Matryoshka

My daughter and her husband announced on Christmas Day that they are expecting a child in July.
This got me thinking about the relationship between generations and how parents feel about becoming grandparents.

                                     Matryoshka

                                                        for Meg

                          And so the generations nest
                                inside each other
                          like reversible Russian dolls:
                          the woman who is my child
                                has a child within her now
                          who may remember me
                                in future family tales,
                          just as I recall
                                my father’s strength
                          and my mother’s touch
                               when I think of infants
                                        in my arms.

                         Thus, the bigger begets
                           and is begotten
                               by the small
                            when we embrace
                              what we are
                               and were
                             and will become,
                             doll within
                                           doll within
                                                           doll,
                             with our love bearing
                                one another,
                             the holder and the held,
                               back to the cradle
                            and back from the brink
                            again and
                                         again
                                                 and again
                           until the very beginning
                           meets the very end.