Sunshine beats against the house on the lake,
but the shade inside ignores it.
In the comforting darkness a boy speaks
and then listens to his aged grandmother
whose lined face bears more years than her age.
Looking out over the still lake,
the child wonders at the lull in speech
and is startled as the conversation
is reborn as his grandmother
tells him of the good old days.
A fish leaps from the middle of the lake
shouting as it flies, I am yet alive,
and then it glides below, hidden again,
silence settling over the lake.
Still talking, the grandmother feels her age.
Eyes closed, he sees words fly over the lake
and settle on the opposite shore
where she reconstructs what now cannot be:
vegetable gardens and long-lasting marriages,
love notes in envelopes with stamps so aged.
No ripples mar the surface of the lake,
and the past once again fades away
as the grandmother returns to silence,
leaving the boy to dream of what he
and the world will be like, when he is her age.
Wiens 10/13/98
Beautiful: Your poem made me weep.
Again, congratulations to you and Jaime on your newest arrival.
Much fondness,
Nong
Left by Nong on July 5th, 2007
Thanks! It was written in a freshman poetry class reflecting on a conversation with my grandmother during one of the last times I saw her. There were some ridiculous restrictions about ending word choice, meter, and a few other random tidbits that had to be inserted into the poem for the assignment. I think what makes me happiest about it when I read it is that you wouldn’t realize any of that since it (mostly) flows. Well, that and the memory it evokes.
We’re enjoying life as a busy mommy and daddy respectively. Hope life is treating you well also.
Left by Jordan on July 5th, 2007
Jordan the poet. So you wrote this during your honors poetry class? Crazy.
Left by Nate on July 6th, 2007
“There were some ridiculous restrictions . . . . I think what makes me happiest about it when I read it is that you wouldn’t realize any of that since it (mostly) flows.”
This is a well-known phenomenon in poetry, which probably has a name. Alas, I have no idea what it is. But I also found that most of my poetry worked better if I was following a highly-restricted scheme. I like sonnets.
Belated congratulations to you and Jaime on Jodie! She’s beautiful.
Left by Kim on July 20th, 2007