SOME THINGS DEFY EXPLANATION...
... like why the strangely dressed young man triggered in my memory an image of my Grandfather standing on the porch of his house in central Arkansas almost seventy years ago watching me watching him.
... like why the strangely dressed young man triggered in my memory an image of my Grandfather standing on the porch of his house in central Arkansas almost seventy years ago watching me watching him.
WHEN I WAS TEN
My Grandpa, a tall thin man, standing on the porch smoking his pipe...
I remember moustache and white eyebrows in the Sunday sunlight,
his soft eyes looking at me inviting questions I never thought to ask...
I didn’t recognize until it was too late that his invitation meant he knew
I’d someday look back on the day and wish I had known what to do.
I wonder now if he was thinking then about his grandfather... wishing
he had known enough to ask, “Grandfather, please... who am I?
Did Grandpa want to tell me things I should know about what life is...
how it goes on and on and on without stopping until it’s finally over.
Did he see himself in me and decide not to intrude on my innocence?
5 comments:
I think a lot of grandpas do a lot of standing and watching younger people. Maybe wondering what life will be like when the young person is his age? I wonder what your grandpa would think of today.
Lovely--makes me think of Bill. He was such an engaged Grandpa.
S. R.
Nice.
M.L.
Jerral...that photo and your comment made us chuckle.
J. and K. E.
Your poem about "Grandpa" sent my mind soaring back decades ago to my youth of 10 years old when I was privileged to engage in lengthy conversations with my grandfather. I think memories are the leavening for life.
B. C.
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