Spring in the Yard with No Grass

 

I nap on a brown army blanket and I am content.

I breathe in the smoke from Daddy’s Chesterfield cigarette and his Old Spice Cologne

I ignore the gumballs under the blanket.

I count the flowers in the linoleum on the kitchen floor.

I memorize my phone number and the pictures in my Little Golden Library Book.

I like the flowers best – the yellow ones that look like butter.

The flowers on the linoleum are red.

The television is always on as

The World Turns

If I open the cupboard under the sink will I still find your whiskey bottle there?

Does your ironing board still crowd the dining room where no one eats together?

Do you still have the ashtray I brought you from Luray Caverns?

Do you still catch your toe under our worn carpet and cuss at the dog?

Have you shot him yet?

Do you still write me everyday in your mind?

Can I come home again?

Where rabbits hutch in Aunt Irma’s backyard.

Where Bill Mackey’s motor scooter dives down a hill that seemed steeper then.

Where you are still young and you tie a perfect bow in my sash and send me off starched and ironed to conquer the first grade.

Where the houses on both sides are filled with people who love me.

Where you stand on the front porch and holler “It’s Howdy Doody Time” and I run home to you.

 

Reviews

[Emily B]

I wonder where home is sometimes . . . there are phrases that speak of home to me . . .

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[papaed]

So much more than a list. I felt pangs, needs, wants, and regrets. I felt a simple, sincere life beginning in a world imprinted, passed through with emotion, then held in memory with only a little longing. I would never choose to go back and I bet you wouldn't either. A beautiful heart felt piece by a beautiful lady.

Peace and Love,
papaed

[W.k.kortas]

Well-constructed and executed piece; there's as much story between the lines as in them. Wonderful mixture of recollection and longing--it doesn't escape notice that there's no mention of the mother--that is handled indirectly and deftly. A very fine piece of work.

[Jet Lag]

what great memories. lovely list... calmed me.
i'm glad you are back!