he grew up in the age of big families
thought himself a member of a tribe
with sixty-five first cousins
and a family reunion every year
where they measured themselves

at 74 he’s the second oldest
left in the third generation
he gets his info about births
weddings illnesses recoveries
on a smart phone text thread

death is singular and requires
an ear-to-ear call
spreads quickly among siblings,
across the country the tribe knows
and those who can will come

the old they honor
the not so old makes them aware
the young makes them mad
at god until a space of time
lets them see what they have had

this once homogeneous tribe
now diverse in unexpected ways
the sixth generation has arrived
another mystery for him to decipher
how the double helix flows like a river