Nikki Manos

INHERITING

I identify with family items.

There's the magnifying glass that was mom's mom.
Bent and nicked, it has had its day.
But I know where the scratch-less places are
for threading a needle at night.
A sign of ingenuity.

Then there's dad's wooden drinking mug.
As a child, I never knew how it stopped leaking.
I marveled waking up to water at the top.
An artifact of Greek cunning.

Inheriting MS does not signal ingenuity
nor cunning.
It's just there.

Nikki Lee Manos lives in New York City. A retired English professor, she received her doctorate in English Literature from New York University. She has edited Diana of the Crossways and co-edited Transforming Genre. Presently, she is delighted in writing poetry and works for children.