What Goes Around

. . . painstaking parents are going to
school all the time, and their teachers are
their children.
   What a Woman of Forty-Five Ought to
Know by Anna Drake, 1902

I find myself sitting
for long spells
in her rocking chair
Prom picture stares
suggesting I get a life
Beyond golden girl memories
this mausoleum room arouses
With whiffs of lemon scented soap
fading faster than flashbacks
And tombstone trophies
that testify accomplishments
from the last child to leave
Toddler turned teacher
who tested me daily
Teenager who mentored
modern manners
Like how to say fuck
without mentioning French
And when to forego formalities
An adult daughter who turns
childhood traumas into survival tools
And defines her own direction
Power she may say learned from me
But my lessons were literate
Ivory tower expertise
Second-sourced from
Dr. Spock and Gloria Steinem
Myself swaddled in
watchkeeper words
A mummy now ready to unwrap
pages of original text
And apprentice in daughter's
new-woman world
But first a few more minutes
To reminisce before
I relinquish the rocking chair