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That furniture at Grandma’s house has never had a;
Behind, sit down directly on it-
The plastic had duct tape overtop
Where something sharp had pierced a hole
This sofa, that had lasted 30 years… unscathed.
The sofa also had another decorative cover with
Big crazy flowers over top of the plastic.
That furniture had a story to tell and secrets to keep.
That old sofa told the walls to hush, and to never mind the
Shadows it had seen moving methodically, as the street lights
Beamed in, while the household was asleep.
The old sofa whispered to the floors to stop creaking, as we
Tipped-toed back n forth to the fridge, drinking up the
Kool-Aid in the sweltering summer heat,
A quiet breeze swept gently through the open window;
To help Induced Grandma’s sleep.
Somehow a fly managed to get
through some small tear in the screen.
The fly was the only living witness,
As to what went on that night.
Those were the kind of nights, that babies were made.
Sunday morning: Too sleepy for church,
Curls sweated out and "edges nappy" once again.
Years later after the plastic was hard, yellow,
And the flowers were faded.
The once bright fabric had been
Given in to the years of washing.
We gathered around the small
living room at Grandma’s house
Sharing stories of how we were not
Allowed to sit directly on the sofa:
And reminiscing, of making tents on the
Floor as we watched scary movies
On the television.
After Grandma’s memorial service, and all the
Aunts uncles and cousins had left.
I kept that old beat up looking sofa,
Took it to my house, and ripped the plastic off it.
To my surprise the sofa now an heirloom
Looked spanking brand new… I said to myself
“If Grandma only knew”.
As I was fluffing up the pillows and clearing out the
Coins and other debris; I noticed an old polaroid
Photo lost in the crevice of the sofa;
There it was the lost picture of me
And my prom date, now husband.
All these years we had wondered
Whatever happened to our prom picture.
Well, that day for the first time,
I sat on that sofa without cover or plastic.
I stared at the picture for a while:
Oh my, I remembered;
We had gone out to have burgers,
Paid for our prom pictures,
And went to the after party;
Came straight to my house afterward,
As there was no money left for motel…
Excited to share this discovery, I
Waited for my husband to come home…and said,
“Honey look what I found” ...
The happy amazement on his face, priceless!
We laughed and said teasingly ...
“Let us be thankful for this sofa
That has kept our secret so well” (chuckle)
We made love again as we had on that blissful night;
Only this time the sofa could breathe –
After which, we laughed hard, remembering
How we had decided that, the nosy fly
{knew too much, and had to die}!