Old

Some things go out of fashion.

There's this picture grandma loved to show Fred and I
Every time we'd come around.
Grandma was all plums, and kisses, and pictures.
It's an old black-and-white photo
Of her and grandpa in the park.
They are standing, hand in hand,
And grandpa has raised his leg
And supports his Sandak on the roof of KICC;
Smiling goofily into the camera.

"Look at our Afros!" Grandma exclaims
Beaming a gap-to-gap smile.
Sure enough, their heads are enormous
Hair patted into a perfect sphere
They remind me of...cotton candy,
Of cotton bolls, of wind pollination.
All this is lost on little Freddy
He scoffs, aside, under his breath, to me:
"Man, all this stuff is so old!"

"This was 1978," grandma continues, not hearing,
"We were in Uhuru Park
I was young then
Young, and bright, and hopeful.
I was working at VoK then
Back when we were the only station.
Nairobi was young, like us
Young, and bright, and hopeful.
Everything was so colorful then
Not grey, like nowadays."
Sure enough, though the picture is black and white
I imagine the florid color clash
Of her flower-print skirt
And her polka-dot blouse
And I smile to myself.
Little Freddy smirks and mouths;
"Oooold."

She traces a trembling finger
Around first her face, then his
Suddenly she grows serious
And her voice trails off
As if she has forgotten us.
"We were so young...
So young, so bright, so hopeful."
She sighs, heavily.
"We were so in love."
Little Freddy scoffs:
"Old."

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good story in the poem. You create people, thoughts and places. I like the thoughts and visions create by the poem. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote