My Grandchildren’s Eyes
Sometimes when I face-time
with my toddler grandchildren,
I have this urge
to pierce a hole in their psyche—
just to know
what emotions flood their universe,
which they’ve not yet collected
a vocabulary to express.
There is so much depth
in those little sponge-like eyes,
trying to make sense
of this complicated world
not even knowing the tools they own.
Old souls in young bodies,
laden with frustrations—
or is it me imposing mine on them—
my childhood of being silenced—
no words until I learned
to pick up a pen,
and scribble upon blank pages,
while trying to come to terms
with inconsistencies around me.
In my bones I learned
how positive behavior
was reprimanded
and bad behavior reinforced.
My grandchildren will be different
their parents taught them right,
and for this and so much more
proudness melts from my pore.
“My Grandchildren’s Eyes” first appeared in Poetry Leaves: Anthology.
Beginnings
for Pablo Neruda
You speak of your troubled beginnings
as if your life was forged, shaped by them
into your quotidian.
I don’t see that in your mirror—
nor do I find in the poems you wrote
out of this trauma.
Dear one,
you are no different from any other poet
before or after you whose past
drove them to these shared pages—
like me, etching my words,
locked in my childhood closet,
haunted by the mystery
of my grandmother’s suicide—
and those bottles, those many bottles of pills
bringing her to die in my arms.
How could this not leave
a scorching in me
who hears and shares the intimacy
of the poet you have become.
“Beginnings” first appeared in RavensPerch.
Diana Raab, MFA, PhD, is a memoirist, poet, workshop leader, thought-leader and award-winning author of fourteen books. Her work has been widely published and anthologized. She frequently speaks and writes on writing for healing and transformation. Her latest book is Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors, A memoir with reflection and writing prompts (Modern History Press, 2024). Raab writes for Psychology Today, The Wisdom Daily, The Good Men Project, Thrive Global, and is a guest writer for many others. Visit her at: https:/www.dianaraab.com.
Sparks of Calliope 