The way I see it

You have to know that our roots and origin ran through a cold northern river, inky dark streets, a Tiffany lamp in the hallway of a swanky riverfront home just around the corner from the enigmatic Victorian brick two story with a strange penchant for letting

Music spill out onto the lawn, into the street, soaring music—Elvis and Mozart as your sister-mother ran in the light or climbed onto the roof

Sassing the neighbor when she asked where “mom” was

Sleeping Beauty.

We are a generational fairy tale

Goldilocks among the familial, adoptive bears

I take HIPAA shred and fold it into a fan, scissor it into the shapes of female figures—me, you, your sisters, your aunts, your bad and good precedents

We are women

We dance in a circle

Arms entwined or akimbo

You shed light, little firecracker

Always shed light

My love