Grandmother On My Mother's Side
Ceci more than most
knew the art of the drop-by chat
how to match topics like mockingbird songs
and salt a tease into the stock of praise
the seven speeds of knowing winks
how essential the pause when taking leave
Her hands knew gentle generosities
soup made early to simmer
embroidery for a gift next year
how children at the window with PB&J faces
love squirrels on the porch with PB&J faces
and how such timing took ballet finesse
She lost her husband, and everyone agreed to say
it was a hunting mishap
knew how the heart’s sap and tragedy
catch each other unaware
amber their moment slowly
and then forever
She knew when children suffer
they plant what they want to bury
hope rain never summons deeper seeds
but storms fall hard in the summer
She knew the frailty of live oaks
how only wind walks on the water
at the foot of Jackson Avenue
She knew and perhaps too well
to keep plenty of tea in her kitchen
She knew the magnificent fragility of time