Gone are the days of milk and Hersey’s syrup,
sugar, vanilla, and tiny marshmallows
with cinnamon sprinkled on their heads.
Instead, I have bounteous pineapple,
my favorite. I can sneak a banana now
and then—especially a little green.
Clementines and plums and apples,
grapes, occasional tomatoes, kiwi,
blueberries and all their cousins.
I don’t ask about dates. I don’t want
to know. Coffee beans and chocolate
are not my friends, but I invite them in
for tea, whenever I see them come.
I am so glad for all my appetites.
I’ve wanted to savor so much
that I’ve broken all the rules,
and it brings me joy to do so—
everything in moderation. Ah,
the scent of ocean, deserts, creeks,
and mountains! The delights of sex,
the wanting strong as lightning,
the succor of just lying down
when summer drains the life
from me, except in dreams!
This is the time and phase
for my remembering. I think
of my childhood doll I named Irene
or sometimes Elaine, whose arms
are separate from her body, how
I lost her when I left home (I thought
so many things were unimportant—
parents, siblings, precious books)
that I found at a flea market, the same
clumped hair and crack along her ear.
If anyone has touched my Alice,
made with loving mother’s hands—
I left her in a rocker on the stairs
of Hopscotch House—please let me know
that she survived, even if your little girl
is grown or she’s in threads,
You can’t toss that away.
Love this–the final stanza is its own strong poem, I think!
Thank you, Pauletta! Good tip about the ending. The words are still a little slippery, but I recognize a reader’s patience to stay with it! Having you read it is so satisfying!
I agree! The last stanza gets to the heart of the poem. Glad to see you are still polite to coffee beans and chocolate if they drop by. Good southern manners.
I love it! I picked up my manners in Southern California–which means they came from everywhere! Thank you from the bottom of my pea-picking little heart!
Yes–the last stanza is powerful!
Thank you! It is wonderful when a poem comes where I just get out of the way, and especially when I receive so many kind responses.
this is now my favorite of your poems. from start to finish the writing is clear and powerful and honest and full of humanity and humility and uncommon wisdom. thank you.
I am so grateful to be able to experiment in good company. And it is wonderful when a poem ‘hits’! Thank you for the warm response!
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