Generations
I carry
the weight of my mother’s
mothers ignorance
in my body.
I carry
their indecision, the ambiguous
uncertainty that followed them
in their daily toils.
Upon my shoulders, I have bourne
their mistakes, their mistaken
identities, their secret
yearnings as I struggle
through my own uncertainty.
I watched them
these women I am
descended from; strong women
conquered by even stronger men.
I have carried all that
they are within me.
I pity them no more.
Kristin Fullerton lives in upstate New York. She is a proud alumna of both Elmira College and University at Albany. Previous work has appeared in Grasslimb, Strong Verse, and Devilfish Review.