Dinner at the Gardens

Description of assisted living dinnertime conversation and musing on a dreamed of life

"Eggs got us through the depression"
"We always had chickens"
"O how I hated to milk the cow in cold weather"

I wanted to stay until twilight
To leave lively and untethered and buoyant
Amid the backyard gardens of spearmint and thyme
Of uneven bricks trimmed with moss
The comfort of an aged stately oak
And a wrap-around porch

"There's a trolley that runs on electricity!"
"It took me past the printer's place on my way home from school"
Where Gutenberg's name is uttered so reverently, sotto voce
Movable type moves, points and spaces
Layouts and gutters
But I dreamed of love so profound
The sweet electric fullness of first love
When I was beautiful and stately in a maroon velvet dress
I did not hear what could have passed for practical later on
So many years later I can only wonder what I missed
Caught in my mother's web
Tethered, taut and tired