On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
When we left Florida last week, we traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina to celebrate the 80th birthday of my uncle, the youngest brother of my mother. My mother came from a family of twelve children and these aunts and uncles have been a blessing to me as well as to my children. I never doubted their love.
My mother and her ten other brothers and sisters have all passed on now, each one dearly missed. I’m not a poet but I wrote the poem below many years ago as my precious aunts and uncles began slipping away.
My circle of love grows smaller
As one by one, they fall,
The molders of my life
The molders of my soul.
Once so strong and sure
They led me from child to middle age,
Now they are shrunken, unsure or gone.
Still, memories of them-
Their laughter, scoldings and love
Echo in my heart.
Looking at those remaining,
My heart is heavy with dread,
They are so fragile, even frail.
I want to cling to them.
Yet, they loved me and released me
Allowing me to live my life,
So must I release them to live
A new life with God.
Old Things R New 