Grandmother Vertebrae

I was sitting at a ritual. There was dancing. I was conscious of sitting too long. That's not good on my back. The story was of maidens, mothers, crones. Then I realized that my spine is an unbroken line of women. From my great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother in the tailbone through my great-great-great grandmother, to my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother and me, I am the vertebra just near the heart, then above is my daughter, my granddaughter, my great granddaughter. All are separate but inseparable, dependent, connected. The essential live fluid, spinal fluid, is the blood that runs through us, connects us. I realize the respect I must give my spine is the respect of my ancestors and decedents. I must treat my spine that well. I depend on it, both ways. I can feel my ggggggggrandmother at the seat of the chair, motivating my hips, I can feel my grandmother pressing into the back of the chair. I can feel myself at my heart, I can feel my great great granddaughter standing up, erect, pulling my eyes to the sky. She is the future, towards my head. The past sinks into the floor. I want to watch the rotation of each vertebra, each life that has led to mine, will proceed from mine, each woman's dance. I have realized before that the eel being my power animal situated INSIDE my body is a significant change. Now I know the segments of the eel that is in my backbone are generations. Each birth sheds a skin, adds a section, stacks a vertebrae. Each newborn's bumpy spine is their past, present and future. And now moving my spine is a form of worship, of the maiden, mother and crone that we all become. Of the mothers behind me and the babies before me. Of the unbroken line of lineage and history. Now moving each story in my back, listening, is an act of respect.