Jazz Personae Poem #16 by Elizabeth Beck

157 Replies

Nana tints her hair a shade of blue
glimmers in sunlight to match her spirit
soars above pearls wrapped in double strands
around her neck wrinkled regal stance as she
lights candles and prays ancient words
before I eat her matzo balls and brisket cooked
between games of mahjong and blue stones
she chooses carefully to place on Papa’s
grave from the garden she tends and whispers
snatches of songs, folk tales and memories
at dusk when the sun catches the shimmer
rattle of the shaking of her vein-bulged hands
and gnarled knuckles that never distract from
her elegance and grace in perfectly tailored dresses
with gold brooches purposefully attached to attract
my undying attention and devotion for her beauty
more rare than her lilies, irises and roses

-Elizabeth Beck

157 thoughts on “Jazz Personae Poem #16 by Elizabeth Beck”

  1. Rae Cobbs

    This is lovely! It’s all the more valid because of big knuckles and veins. I miss the commas before the last items in a series–where are the grammar police on that? What about neck-wrinkled or neck, wrinkled? I guess I have been teaching too long!

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