Loving Helena

The chair is her home, her universe now It is all that her many years will allow Helena’s elegant beauty once shone Now her mind wanders a world of its own Age has changed her body but not her heart Many great stories she’d always impart To the wide-eyed grandchild she admired so A girl who has loved her since long ago Tales of black velvet gowns in which she’d dance Soft moonlit beaches where she found romance Economic hardships that came to pass The rise and the fall of each social class Her hands and face are now weathered with age Accounts of the past still flow from this sage And though some repeat again and again I still listen now, just as I did then I’ve memorized these tales, her gifts to me And always I’ll remain her devotee It matters not that my name escapes her Love from her eyes she can always confer Grandma brushes fingers across my face And whispers, “Beautiful,” as we embrace Though I miss years when she knew me so well I know in the past her memories dwell My love for her lingers, it always will I take comfort knowing she loves me still