A Smoky Memory

Unable to sleep I remember- My mind flashes back to many things; Such wonderful gifts – our memory, Salvation and life with all it brings It is nighttime of long ago Before electricity the coal oil lamp burns Sitting up on the mantle that’s dressed With a white embroidered skirt Snuffed out when time for bed and sleep The smoky scent of coal oil remains; Soon sleep comes lasting to morning When the scent of coal oil and coal awakens The bedroom was in the living room Nearer the coal burning stove and heat, Soon the coldness of winter would come As under the thick covers we slept My mind remembers but I wonder “Why is this so?” It was long ago; Yet, it seems precious that old scene My mind’s eye sees and recalls aglow The irony is that the heat was temporary While the night’s sleep was continuous Now, the heat is automatic, But the sleep is strenuous I sit to write out my memory A septuagenarian night gone by With only a coal oil lamp flickering In the recesses of my minds’ eye -Evelyn Pearl