It was not that I could not see;
mine eyes were open wide
It was rather I would not see
blinded by time and circumstance.
 

It was not that I was unwise
wisdom comes to me
sparingly true
but as often as it does for most.
Rather it was that wisdom itself
shut down
becoming unwisdom in the grips
of time, circumstance and choice.

So if there is a place where all these converge
it is here at this time and place
and I have long ago conceded
that sometimes, the two of these
conspire to build the very walls of circumstance.

To run away is to leave behind all that I care about;
I am the fish who cannot learn to walk,
that is too alien for me
I look into needing eyes everyday which say to me
leaving is a circumstance which cannot be.

So I apply my Master Will and do what is best for most
and tell Mr. Circumstance that he really has no truck
for I have made the Choice my own
for reasons unknowable and unseen
for one ruled solely by cold logic.

So I sit the quiet table now
sipping tea on my garden patio
knowing full well
that while all of life is Time, Circumstance and Choice,
a Fourth addition to this equation is the exercise
of my implacable Will.

These are the equations of Grandmother hood;
raising my daughter's kids.