a family photograph

in timeless time
   one generation embraces
another.

the great grandmother
   peeks out through the eyes
of the sun beam child who
   wears her smile.

the ancestral-father sleeps
   under a tree while the fire-
haired husband flips hamburgers
   with the old man's hands.

mysteries are everywhere
   but secrets are impossible
to keep.

voices across the kitchen table,
   rumors in the living room,
gossip under the couch, murmurings
   in the grass.

the heart, bigger than a continent,
   knows all.

love is the holy spirit that
   believes in every one of you––

that gives you birth, teaches you to
   walk, applauds your first word &
cheers for you, lifetime after lifetime.

each of you is the favorite child.

you are surrounded by a tribe of ghosts,
   holding hands, dancing in a
circle, radiating love.

& each of you is a member of that
   tribe, that can't stop dancing,
can't stop loving.

your neighbors imagine you're
   living in a house,
your souls know you're living
   in a heart.