Breakfast

Weekend Fast fade Monday morning Mother in a rush Footsteps Quick beat Feet barely touching Cement Dropping me off Was Mother’s necessity. In the kitchen Grandmother and Mother Exchanged easy words And laughter Sun shining Inside Puffy faced I searched an old cigar box For the candy and change Hidden there. I 'm going to make you a good breakfast Said grandmother If I said I had cold cereal It would upset her We walked slowly To the corner grocer Grandmother's hand trembled As she picked up the change from the counter We have butter she said And we have eggs and we have milk. Good now you can eat The store owner smiled The door bell clanging goodbye for us Holding grandmother's hand Not a care in the world Breakfast was crepes Thin as paper Full of jam Mother worked Someplace in the City Tall buildings Strangers everywhere A place where no one smiled A noisy place Of strange sounds Moving cars Pushing people A place from where She came home Tired and angry Why it was I was too young to know.