Ancestral Picture

I dreamt last night of
the home of my childhood friend
whose mother told me she learned of my father and
illness
a pained, remorseful face
not quite connecting in the eyes

today: two dings, two clicks
two messages
how sorry she was to learn of
illness
from her mother

another friend, backpacking
withstood rain, cliffs, wind,
a waist too small to support her pack
gave birth - fourth child, first boy
while I was moving backward
to the place we had slept after that storm

elegant portrait from the past
face of my father, but soft
face I never knew that gave birth to
another face I never knew
from which he sprang
a realization of what grows
out of such eyes and cheekbones
a face my children may know