(for my grandfather)

Reparations.

well past
youthfulness― he
knew how to avoid the
staleness of life; tediousness
of time

gone by―
considering
he survived the global
war fares levied by the needless
mistakes

of the
western wing-pinned
presidential egos
and contradicting confusion
caused by

unclear
economic
equalities― though his
armed force service and modest life
never

sought the
reimbursement
for the mules his fathers
never received― did own and tend
forty

acres
of heritage―
knowing he would not be
the one to gracefully mow its
lawn or

shower
its meadow fields―
so he spent seventy
plus years to pre-plant the soil; and
pre-pick

weeds; while
fertilizing
and grand-fathering seeds
that would sprout and celebrate in
the fields

he would
never live to
reap― but sowed legacies
and memories our little lives
would keep.