-toward this place-

If we begin here,

travel in the one

defined direction

the destination

leading to what is known

where the dead mingle

with the living

where the old women
our grandmothers among them
tend to the old men,
where the old men
our grandfathers among them
tend to themselves
in pedestrian silence —

where the young men

our fathers among them

cultivate a space reserved for their sons —

where the young women

our mothers among them

teach their daughters
by daily execution, 

by fundamental deduction,

by maternal extraction —

toward this place
where we prosecute

the elements of living

in an open forum

accessible and predictable

from where we've begun

where we ought to begin —

from the mouth of attendance
the connection of residence

conning the stories from their corridors

so that we left living might speak of them.