Ira Joel Haber, The One with the Shells
The Gift of Abuelas
Juan Pablo Mobili
She thinks of another blueness.
—Dunya Mikhail
Our grandmothers knew another blueness,
the sky so high they would plummet,
robbed of their breath for daring
to ascend to the height of their desire.
Instead, they balanced whole families,
like a juggler, holding an elephant
at the end of a frail stick
on the tips of their small noses.
The legend goes that Atlas
held the world on his shoulders
but it was our abuelas
who kept our lives from falling.
Juan Pablo Mobili
She thinks of another blueness.
—Dunya Mikhail
Our grandmothers knew another blueness,
the sky so high they would plummet,
robbed of their breath for daring
to ascend to the height of their desire.
Instead, they balanced whole families,
like a juggler, holding an elephant
at the end of a frail stick
on the tips of their small noses.
The legend goes that Atlas
held the world on his shoulders
but it was our abuelas
who kept our lives from falling.