A free verse poem about memories kept locked away in the attic. |
The young girl is helping her favorite grandmother sort through a cedar chest that has sat in the attic of her grandparents’ house for four decades untouched. One long-forgotten treasure after another is extracted for examination. Lace-trimmed handkerchiefs with the initials MJS cause the girl to ask “Whose were those, Grandma?” “They were mine, dear, back before I was married.” Next they remove a bundle of age-spotted letters bound with a faded red ribbon, followed by a thick book, which opens to reveal a dried corsage of once-red roses pressed flat between its pages. Memories pour forth from the deep recesses of her mind, causing a smile to light up the old woman’s wrinkled face. “What are those, Grandma Mary?” “These are a keepsake of mine. I wore this corsage to my senior prom dance. The love of my life gave it to me to wear that night.” Tears fill her eyes and begin to wet her cheeks as she dabs. “So Grandpa gave them to you?” “No, dear, I hadn’t even met your grandfather way back then.” “What? You loved a man before you married Grandpa?” “Yes, dear, I was once a young girl very much in love with a special young man. We had plans to marry one day, but it wasn’t to be.” “What happened, Grandma?” The old woman fondles the browned dried flowers and watches desiccated petals crumble in her gnarled hands. A faraway look fills her eyes, as she silently relives those precious events. Tears once again flow down her cheeks, while she clutches the letters tightly against her breast. Finally, she answers. “My love went away to war on the other side of the world. He wrote me every day … until one day his letters stopped. He was killed in combat. My heart died with his. Fortunately, several years afterwards I met and married your Grandpa. I ended up having a good life after all.” The young girl sits lost in thought for awhile. Then she asks, “Do you love Grandpa as much as you loved that young man who was your first love?” “Of course, dear,” comes the reply, even though in her heart the old grandmother knows that she lies. Please check out my ten books: http://www.amazon.com/Jr.-Harry-E.-Gilleland/e/B004SVLY02/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 |