Gift of the Tortoise
(for Essie)

I
In Africa
the tortoise is the keeper
of wisdom. She
retells,
remembers
births, deaths
sings the stars to sleep
greets the morning sun.
Her shell is etched,
marked by time.

II
My grandmother 
is not smooth
like ancient shell: weathered,
her face wears a patina of worn leather
rich, comfortable.
She rests a sparrow's-hand
lightly on my head.
The power
of her blessing flows through me.

III
Eric was born
in her ninth decade.
Ten years for each month
he swam within me.
The tortoise and the guppy.
Each glides through different currents
of a single river.

IV.
She moves ponderously
under the obligation
of memory.
She grants the gift of the tortoise
freely
to all who ask.