Smoking in the Fifties
January 8, 2015
Three men sit in the Middle Georgia living room.
No central heat, a window AC in the kitchen
A floor fan whirs
Ashtray tables stand on a woolen rug next to each chair
My Grandfather, my Father, My Uncle
All the men smoked
The women served coffee
The men talked
Of politics, fishing, and the weather
I was little then
And watched with fascination
Their cigarettes grow shorter
the smoke swirled in the air
A heavy mystical vapor
My grandfather crossed his long limber legs like a woman
He tapped the ashes
He inhaled a long draft
I inhaled more second-hand smoke than I have ever had first-hand
We all did
In restaurants, on airplanes, in movie theaters
The car windows rolled up
We coughed to no avail
Now I sit in my car with the window down
The ashes burn gray
I tap them with my yellowed index finger
I am my Daddy’s child
His twin
He sits in the den
No more ashtrays
My mother serves him coffee
While I watch
No more cartons in his top bureau drawer to steal from
He quit twenty years ago
While I smoke on..
I Would Have Missed the Narcissus
January 6, 2015
I Would Have Missed the Narcissus
January 6, 2015
I think about leaving
Go west, old woman
Climb your mountain
Follow your trail
But I come home from work
Turn on the light
My feet hurt
And there on my kitchen table,
the narcissus bloomed!
Crocus, Hold Out Your Hope
January 5, 2015
Purple bravery
Pokes through the snow and last fall’s leaves
As I recall
I can see them now
With yellow centers
Their petals pert and innocuous to the wind
Their uncanny resilience
I would like to be like the crocus
But not this January day
New Year’s Eve with My Parents
January 3, 2015
Rum Cake from Jamaica
Round and moist sits on the coffee table
Champagne flutes
Crystal with gold rims
Grace the tray
We wait for midnight
But decide 7:00 is fine
We can’t wait to pop the cork
And dive into the cake
It is dinner
Daddy sips the sparkle
Through a straw
I feed the cake to him
“Mmm”, he says
A smile on his face
Mother states in her best French accent,
“Let them eat cake!”
We make a toast to each other
To Life and a New Year
It is a fantastic way to spend New Year’s
I can think of no other