A Niece Looks Back
           Beginning with one line by Malcolm Guite
by Wilda Morris

You comfort me with all your big mistakes:
the way you walked away from expectation,
became as unpredictable as snowy flakes,
treated life as just a long vacation.
You wandered like Thoreau through unplowed fields
and learned the names and secrets of the birds
and trees. That was the way your heart was healed
from other people’s unkind deeds and words.
You cast aside all thoughts of shame and guilt,
forsaking everything that brings acclaim
and wealth, and so your humble life was built
despite those who believed your days lacked aim.
I love your faults, your whims, your great delight
for surely in the main, you got things right.


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