Jubilee

It feels as if
All my life I've been waiting
To arrive at this place
In the trajectory of my life.

The numbers speak differently to me
That it seems they do to others.
For once, the fractions make sense:

50--Why, that's half 100!
Grandma becomes that next year!

12ish--That's one-quarter of my life,
That's how long I've been farming,
Lived in one place,
Been a grandma myself.

In this exact moment,
I am crossing the bridge
To the second half of my life
Waving banners,
Requiring that trumpets announce my way.

How light everything feels,
Here on the other side of 50:
I let everything that is not beloved
Remain behind in the rubble
Of life before my Jubilee year,
And I skipped over the bridge by myself,
Laughing
With a new, brave voice.


Natalya Lowther