Generations

Like a rainbow
she shimmers with colors
now fading,
paling,
as her arc bends toward the gray-green sea
while the offshoots,
resolute,
climb towards the summit.

Her ring arose while tending days,
gathered its greens and blues
as she labored among pebbles on the shore,
stepping lightly
not to stub her toe.
The tide wooed the water
away from her ankles
then rushed back in
and covered them again.

The scions ascend,
not smoothly
but stumbling forward,
growing brighter and bolder,
a canvas of red and orange
like Canna lilies
urgent and pushy,
petals ablaze.
They pause—
on paths she once pursued
but briefly,
surging on their own timetable.

Perched on the rainbow's curve,
spiraling slowly
downward,
gently unraveling,
settling softly,
the arc completes itself
and returns
to the shore.