constructing poetry

the family room

in our family room,
I’m surrounded by memories—
things that have remained with me
through all our moves.

to my right the fireplace,
guarded by the tall forms
of bookshelves
where Dad keeps
old textbooks from his childhood—
the books I read when the library
was days away, and I’d finished
the stack I’d gathered
the last time.
I grew up on heavy solemn tomes
which hid such treasures
as Ogden Nash and Lewis Carroll—
which made me laugh
and gather them into myself.

on the wall are pictures,
paintings, needlework,
artwork of all kinds—
sunflowers,
butterflies,
a sampler my mother made
for their twentieth anniversary—
they’ve had forty, now.
Angel’s Landing done
in acrylic by my father
when he was very young—
they went there for their honeymoon.
a German house
done in oils
with white branches reaching
up in foreground—my sister.
a bowl, etched grey with
blue knotwork in relief—
a sister’s senior project.
two cross-stitch pictures,
a grandmother fairy,
two children playing on a swing.
those are my work—
my time and blood
lie in those stitches.

the piano—Mama’s piano
she bought with her lesson money
plays Chopin’s nocturnes
and Czerny’s exercises,
over and over until they
are the background music
that plays in my head,
coloring my memories
with my mother’s hands.
and when I close my eyes,
I can see my family,
all of them,
gathered in a group,
talking, laughing, knitting,
reading, writing, being
touching me,
from the far off place
they’ve settled
while I stayed close to home.

Prompt for: May 13, 2016 ▼

Subject or Theme: Describe the favorite room in your house (in detail).
Word(s) to Include: (none) (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): (none) (or any derivatives, compound or hyphenations of these words)
Additional Parameters: Minimum 30 lines.
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.