In my mid-life years,

I savor their stories from the past —

hit ‘Record’ when I can

or type notes furiously.

This is how I keep my parents alive

for eternity.

I venerate my parents

while they are still here on earth

to add ease to my ancestral practice

for future me.

Future generations will know their names,

and through their children,

their legacy.

It took the possibility of death to start loving me. Plus a dash of radical honesty, a splash of holy water in the form of tears

Take pleasure in the fact that

you survived,

that what meant to kill you failed

miserably.