Superstitious Uncle Ed

Uncle Ed came to live with us when he was in his seventies He felt old, weird, and he had white hair on his face It sprouted out of his nose He was our distant uncle, a blue baby who should not have lived But the doctor kept working on him way after he should have given up His superstitions were unbelievable. He would shake uncontrollably if he noticed anything plugged in. So the toaster, blender, tv set, coffee pot had to be off if he noticed. He would scream loudly if the cat came into the room For he believed cats would steal your breath while you slept. He would not stop screaming until Mable was removed. We did not like him. He was old and weird and creepy. Until he began showing us his cards. He had one for everything. Heart cards, diamond cards, and clover cards. We did not know until years later that some cards have spades. Uncle Ed thought spades were the work of the devil, so he had thrown them away.