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Monday, August 10, 2015

Monday's Poem: Family Stories

FAMILY STORIES

Some stories float in air
and slip in on the wind.
Listen to the words whispering.

Auntie's curtain fire
and the supper's startled surprise
and the cousin's screams
and then...
and then...
Uncle's mug of root beer
tossed just right
and just in time
and the cousins' claps
and the cousins' laughs
and the found
frightened cat.

Goblin spelling tests
in the one room school
that twisted Grandpa's
tummy in wicked knots
and then...
and then...
his times table
gobbled up and memorized
in one wizardly week.

Mama's first shiny dime
on her first day of school
that lost itself
and lost lunch, too
and tears and tears
and then...
and then...
a shared sandwich
and a new friend
who lived around the corner
and who grew up
to marry Uncle,
a brave man
who put out the curtain fire
with well-tossed
well-timed
root beer.

Some stories float in air
and slip in on the wind.
Old stories.
Told stories.
Listen well and hold them.

                                Anne Knowles

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