Thai Beef Satay @ Grace
her body is stooped spoon, heavy from
deaths of husband, parents, two siblings
dealing with autistic child now a young adult
with violent behavioral challenges
but her eyes are clear as river
detailing childhood toys, books, garden, games
snippets of conversations with cousins, names
& dates & years traversed like a bridge
prayers, i keep on praying, she says
as we look at her 1 album, covered neat & shiny,
i have many more pictures, she adds,
but its all buried in mess
except stories of growing up in grandma's house,
now long gone: stones, trees, landscape of houses-
& as i eat my thai noodles & satay, i wonder
what memories my children will keep
Posted for Poets United - Spent Saturday afternoon in Toronto City, meeting up with hubby's cousins ~ Thanks for the visit ~
Oh, this was gorgeous! This makes me wish I'd known either of my grandmothers when I was a child...both had passed away by the time I was born. But when I look at photos, it brings them close to me.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful! I wonder what memories my children will keep as well.
ReplyDeleteNice to find you here Grace - a real power ending to this - how stright the back indeed... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com
ReplyDeleteGrace, this is a fantastic write! I can see her "stooped spoon" of a bank, but her eyes clear as a river..........dealing with her unimaginably difficult life, firm in faith. And then the wondering....what our children's memories will be. Beautifully told. I could read the whole book!
ReplyDeletefirst, i love thai food...smiles...what a story she has eh? between the husband dying and the challenges with the kid...yet still keeps faith...i would not mind sitting and listening a bit...
ReplyDeleteGreat poem, Grace! I like how you link your own memories with the questions you as yourself about being remembered.
ReplyDeletesensitive portrayal of age, memory and loss.
ReplyDeletelove this, the clarity of memories, of mind despite the over-aged body
ReplyDeleteThis is touching and makes me ponder the same question
ReplyDeletethis is a great poem..i like the question what our children will hold of us, what kind of memories they will make...
ReplyDeleteGrace this is rich and satisfying. So much of what I think of when I think of family is tied to food and here you've done it without overtly making it a connection. My mother couldn't keep a decent photo album and I never learned to either. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteWow, Grace, some people do have such heavy burdens, don't they? It is nice that she has her album though. Yes, I wonder sometimes as well what memories my children and grandchildren will keep. I do hope they keep good ones. Beautifully reflective poem here, Grace.
ReplyDeleteMust sure be hard to push through some days. Memories can be funny though, always interesting to hear some of the out there stuff we remember.
ReplyDeleteBetween thai food and storytelling, this is a new favorite! "Stooped spoon" body and "clear as river" eyes help to show both the wheat and the chaff of a well-lived life, skimmed with pictures rising to the top of the heap. What memories indeed!
ReplyDeletememories...............keep us going
ReplyDeleteHmmm, Hmmmm, Hmmm !!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder that, too.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week, Grace ~ M
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ReplyDeleteAh, old age can get scary...am glad that in a gathering dusk, her mind still grabs hold of the good memories!
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful, Grace:)
It could be the memory and pictures that have allowed her to outlive so many of her kin and her troubles as well. You do tell of a wonder to behold and be a part of, a scarred and healed heart comes with age. *shrug* who knows what my kids will remember--they are a generation that think blinders were given them at birth.
ReplyDeleteI always love learnnig people's stories...everyone has one don't they? Sounds like she has stories that could fill volumnes of books...
ReplyDeletestooped, spoon heavy - a beautiful use of words. One photo album - and countless memories ... she keeps praying. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteShe sounds like an amazing woman . . . what stories she could tell.
ReplyDeleteas i eat my thai noodles & satay, i wonder
ReplyDeletewhat memories my children will keep
These are aspects of life in the East that you had captured here, Grace! I'm familiar with them. Hopefully the younger generation gets to experience the wonder during their lifetime. Nicely, Ma'am!
Hank