Isn't that the greatest gift of all? Life size surprises?! You open your eyes every morning to a new day. Deep breaths that remind you yesterday is gone. Its better to create new memories than to forget the old ones.
Yesterday I asked my father about his grandmother, Delia Crowley. I knew nothing about her other than I love her name and decided to share my poetry in her honor. He told me she had striking white hair that she purposely dyed pastel blue in the 60's. "What a fucking badass." I thought. I would of loved her! Oh the things you'll never know unless you ask.
I found out Delia was born on May 20, 1894, in Ballyduff, Kerry, Ireland. Before researching my Ancestry, I really didn't think I was Irish (I thought it was made up, a false claim, just like being .2% Native American)! That information may not seem special to most people but to me it was a reminder that I am connected to so many more people than my immediate family. In fact, I always thought my family was in the US since the beginning! Hell to the no, my friend! Doing a DNA test was well worth my time and money. Both sides of my family pulled the "we're a sliver native" bullshit and it is interesting to see "we're a sliver Norwegian" instead.
Delia just makes me want to know more about myself but through her eyes. She is my direct line to Ireland and something tells me this women was strong as hell. As a poet, I had to spice her name up and give her a proper middle name. One fit for a blue-haired-badass. Morrigan-Magenta. Morrigan is the Phantom Queen in Irish folklore. Morrigan was a shapeshifting warrior who was a prophet often associated with a raven. Magenta represents the joining of Heaven and Earth. Self respect and love of the highest form. It just felt right. Possibly pretentious as fuck, but all good art comes from thinking you got something others don't have. I like to think that if she was a 28 year old millennial right now, in 2020, she would be wearing heavy eyeliner and speaking her mind every chance she could. The Warrior Princess, fighting for what she believes in and never backing down. Sounds like a Taurus, doesn't it?! Bull-headed and always charging forward.
I love you Delia. <3
(The bible you see was personally made for my Fathers family in the early 1800's in Boston. There are endless treasures inside!!)
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