When just survival would be enough - David Handsher

[Lawrence Robinson]

When just survival would be enough

My daughter is now a mother.
I once held her hand 
on the way to school
and we watched the snails
slide over the leaves 
of weeds that had overgrown
the sidewalk on Guerrero Street.

Today she held her youngest 
in her arms while she calmed 
the baby’s brother with soft
words of encouragement. I thought
of my mother and her stories
of the old country and its horrors
and her own mother who knew 
no English when she died.

That is the way of the world
the way it starts and grows
when just survival would be enough.

	- David Handsher