grandmothers and crones
 

They say
grandmothers can be traced
right back to the great grandmother
of us all
Eve,
who came out of Africa
in the beginning of time

a badge of honor
and courage
to be a grandmother
in olden times;
as mothers,
they populated the earth
as grandmothers
they nurtured the brood
often
adopting orphan grandchildren
ensuring survival ,
some say of genes.

In deep old age, crones
were repositories of wisdom
speakers of truth and hope
for the race.
 
It is a hermetically kept secret
being a grandmother these modern days,
a dirty word,
old,
most go about disguised
painted and preening
pretending youth
exorcising away the signs
of the crone,
thinking to hide
the vestigial remains
of undevelopped times.
vestigial,
the appendix was thought to be
before it was discovered
to be a powerhouse of antibodies
and vital to life
as we know it.
 

Raise then your glass
to a toast,
honor
grandmothers and crones
and maybe
they will get out of
the endangered species list
to bask in the sunlight
of your respect.