A Birthday

My family exchanges stories like currency
passed on and over
repeatedly,
like the cards we recycle with-in the same circle
of people, with names crossed out in pencil
and photographs of cats.
Our gatherings are the collecting of laughter
like water, pooling easily, eyes bright
with the shared delight of remembering
our existence.
Each voice adds one more drop
to the ocean of our ancestry
and those words live in my veins
like salted strains of immortality,
so dear to me is the happiness defined
by who holds the deepest smile lines
and the most memories.

Fay Slimm
This is delightful Kate - - family closeness, so honestly written becomes encased with real beauty in this special verse.

Susan Jarvis
A poem of happiness, love, security and wisdom - and the fact that it advocates smile lines makes it a triumph of a piece! :)