Notes About The Poem

Remembered

I remember in every detail
the kitchen where my grand-mother
worked while helping out 
at my uncle’s convenience store.
There was just a flimsy curtain
separating the living quarters;
a bell would announce 
when customers walked in.

I remember that big window by the table
where there was a tiny 6” tv and
the far corner where once in a while
she would pull out the ringer washer.
What a huge ordeal that was
a full day’s work then hanging on the clothesline.
Often we’d play cards in the afternoon
maybe have a treat

My slightly older cousin was in school.
My aunt was my grand-mother’s baby sister
and she was dying of cancer.
She never left her bedroom at the back,
mostly she slept and I was never to disturb her.

It was always a gloomy house
with every curtain drawn,
always quiet, always dark.

One day the house was filled with guests.
It was particularly somber with a lot of whispers;
they had come to say their final farewells.

Since then the house has been torn down
to widen the road and the bridge
but in all my memories I still picture it
as the house where i had never seen joy
and the kitchen seemed to be the only place 
where sunshine was allowed.


AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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