My Grandmother;

Many years reside

In all of the grooves,

Etching her face.

.

My Mother is not

Her little baby girl anymore.

The mirror reflects

The lines in her face too.

.

Worth diminishes with time,

Or so we learn;

Reproductive worth,

Physical worth.

.

Then,  I wish to be a Sequoia,

Where every concentric layer attests to my value,

As I stand witness to millennia,

If not, I wish to be forever, Daddy’s little girl.

*This is about growing older with one’s parents. It is also an observation on the negativity our culture ascribes to  growing older. The social order  accords immense value to children but not a corresponding value, to people aged.