[Critique Group 2] poem for January 24, 408 words

[Alice Massa]

*From /A Family Poe-TREE/:*

**

*The blessed Babies of a Fortunate Family *

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

Having written more than two thousand words

about my youngest aunt

for the celebration of her 80th birthday

on January 28,

and knowing that I could have written

a thousand more recollections,

I continue to think of

how blessed our family has been

with babies--healthy, beautiful babies.

(Second Stanza)

Yet, tonight and when I am on a /prayer walk/

with my guide dog,

I sometimes send petitions to the skies

for the sweet, little babies--

my Uncle Martin and Aunt Rosemary--

who never celebrated one birthday on Earth.

Then, I ponder and pray for Uncle Dominic

who, at age five,

succumbed to meningitis.

These babies, lost to Heaven too young,

were of my parents' generation--

the two boys were older brothers of my mother

and Rosemary was a younger sister of my father.

Despite being blessed with a collage of seven aunts

and seven remarkable uncles,

I often wonder what kind of individuals

Martin, Dominic, and Rosemary

would have become.

Would I have followed in the footsteps of Aunt Rosemary?

Would Uncle Martin have been a baker or teacher?

Would Uncle Dominic have been a miner or poet?

Would any one of them have been blind?

Do they look down upon me

and question why I am who I am,

why I do what I do,

why I make disparate decisions?

Are they my guardian angels

whom I sometimes feel in the beneficent air?

(Third Stanza)

As my family prepares to mark

the 80th birthday

of my youngest aunt--

the baby born in the year my dad turned 24

and her oldest brother, 26--

I realize how fortunate her parents were in 1937.

When Katherine Mae was born,

the little surprise's mother was close to 45

and the baby's father was nearly 58.

Happily, my grandparents lived to 95 and 89--

long enough to not only raise their youngest of six,

but to hold her three children.

(Fourth Stanza)

Now, as I send 80 birthday wishes

to my youthful and energetic,

beautiful and beloved aunt,

our extended family is waiting--

waiting again for /two/ babies,

twin girls to be born in a few weeks

to cousin Andrea, a pediatric nurse,

and her husband Dan,

a major in the Air Force.

My treasured Aunt Kathy will be

the smiling and grateful great-great-aunt

of the little baby girls.

What circles of love

surround the blessed babies

of one truly fortunate family tree!

January 16, 2017, Monday

number of words:408

number of lines:62


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