You came upstairs
with our tray,
tall golden lad
wearing jacket, sarong
and awkward grace.
I was even charmed
by your too-big
feet in floppy thongs.
But you grew into them.
Six years later,
our last visit,
you kissed me
a little too long.
My youngest said, smiling,
'He’s just like another
boy, isn’t he Mum?'
Your voice went husky.
'I think, not boy
any more,' you said.
[Poem #5]
This began as a game some bloggers played in 2008, to write about people who'd made an impact, in the same number of words as one's age, every day for a year. I did them less often and went on longer, adding one word each birthday. I stopped in 2016 and incorporated them into my main poetry blog. In 2019 I resumed the project and gave it its own blog again, with a new name, where it may unfold at its own (slow, intermittent) pace. I've labelled these verse portraits, but they're more like quick sketches: mere glimpses, impressions....
Comment from original posting:
ReplyDeletethehappymisfit3 July 2008 at 11:57
the fact that you can do these as poems is just amazing! :)