Broken Vases

Wisdom comes from those who live the longest

It is passed on by word of mouth

Sometimes from mouth to words scribed on paper,

My mother always told me that when a vase breaks

You can glue the pieces together

But it will never be as strong as when it was whole

She was advising me about my marital difficulties.

In my age of wisdom

I will tell my granddaughters about a different vase

Where the sealing of cracks is of liquid gold,

Bright lines trace the history of the fracture

Where bittersweet memories float to the light,

A celebration of the healing of the whole.