June In January

From * to * some lyrics from June in January, songwriters: Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger. A love song played at my parents’ wedding, lyrics apropos to this pandemic and encouragement of offspring. Both my mom and granddaughter share the name June. Mom and Dad were married in January. This poem intertwines my collegiate granddaughter and my mother. JUNE IN JANUARY Her personality spectacles, snow white and round, accompanied by a draws-them-in smile. She keeps busy with braille’s colorful yarns. Her fingers adeptly move through this historicity. Tight friends - sorority sisters, musicians and peculiar books. Specially, the twisting of knots that form gifts and friendships, learned at a grandmother’s knees and perfected in perpetuity. Boredom slows the clock but artistry cheerfully challenges the drought, plenipotentiaries practiced alongside her studies. Her fingers diversify, twirl like graceful ballerinas, glide alongside an alternative timeline. Mindset of keeping-it-togetherness, learned with a jettisoned broken arm. The doctor said bones would grow stronger, as they set. She answered the door, handed out Chinese food. Her perpetual performance kinetic from youth. We bow for her as she jumps for joy, joy lingers when she leaves the room. It’s June in January. Her namesake’s song framed in this claustrophobic space, forging forth pathways of importance, erasing the cancerous effects of doldrums and festering pain. June in January blossoms. *A clouded moon creeps across the clouded sky Winds of January sigh and moan And yet it's June. I can see a sky of blue… The snow is just white blossoms That fall from above… The night is cold The trees are bare But I can feel the scent of roses in the air.* 12/21/2020