love brought me into this world
and if i’m lucky
love will see me out

when i look at where i am now
everything good and lasting
everything i can truly hold on to
i owe to love

and love is of course
essential
to family

so far
my short time in and around
this world
has given me
my share of confusion about family

i have done what i can to navigate
these inevitable complexities
i have spent a great deal of emotional energy
and even supplanted and superimposed
creative configurations
of family
to fulfill my needs

but time demands its reckoning

and so here i am
home again
with family
old and new

and time has somehow
been good to me
in spite of challenges

so i do
feel lucky
i do
feel loved
and so
as to my time

i am ready

——

m(___)m