Mixed Inheritance

 

By John I. Blair

Because I am a man
I hate to think about it,
But half my ancestors were women.
So often I will credit
All my manly attributes
To the line of hairy males
I claim as predecessors.
But don't I also owe the females?
Whenever I'm on my knees,
Weeding my flower garden,
Whenever I'm in the kitchen,
Whipping up a batch of cookies,
Whenever I'm adding the final touches
To a neatly made-up bed
By box pleating the top sheet,
Cleaning the house without complaining,
Folding the laundry, pressing a shirt, singing,
I can give thanks to the women
In my family tree
That I don't spend all my waking hours
Puffing cigars, belching, stinking,
And scratching where it itches . . .
Though I love those things as well!

©2003 John I. Blair
Encore

Author Note:

Well, I gave up the cigars many years ago,

 and don't spend much time on the housekeeping these days,

 but it's still a true poem.

---

Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.

---