I came into our garden room before dawn this morning and read several poems of my friends and fellow poets on this website, the last one (https://hellopoetry.com/poem/4409062/the-yearning/) from Khoi, my South African friend, who seemed to be telling me, in his beautifully poetic way, that some kind of end is near. Lately I have been feeling my age both in body and mind. So this poem is what came out of this sense of angst early this Thursday morn.

Inspired by my cousin’s memoir. With gratitude to her for this courageous masterpiece. I hope this will be the first of many poems sprung from this work which has shed revelatory light on my personality and familial past. I will refer to these poems as “Teche Series”