Kurt Philip Behm

To My Grandmother (1900-1999)

I store you inside me

  under a blanket of pearls

 

They lie strung together

 as my history unfurls

 

Each one to unstring

 when I need it the most

 

Your wisdom translucent

 your memory my host

 

You loved me before

 I ever knew who I was

 

My freedom you shepherd

 reaching down from above

 

Though years have grown distant

 they forever remind

 

Of your goodness and blessings

 —Oh Catherine of mine

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)