Family Tree

My family tree is
like a Christmas tree.
I'm related to
mighty Brian Boru
and to the chinless Elizabeth;
to a Cherokee rainmaker,
and to a Catholic saint.
This tree has many poets
and bards hiding in the
branches: Swift, Dryden,
whiskey-soaked Bobby,
my gran, Nano Dunne,
and my brilliant sister.
But then, it has
horse-thieves, too.
The many-hued leaves
of my tree reflect
countless languages,
German, Dutch, English,
Irish, Swedish, Welsh,
Yiddish, Russian,
Cherokee, and maybe
even Pygmy!
And the religions!
Catholics, Protestants,
Jews, Quakers, and before,
there were those who
lived by the bale fires
and the Wheel
of the Year.
It took all of them
to make this one
sun-worshiper.

May 10 2015