Popular Posts

Monday, May 2, 2011

And Then She’d Laugh


A picture of Nanny,
a grandma too soon lost,
but a picture so like her,
it captures a lifetime.

The background is almost black,
maybe night outside,
barely noticed blue curtains almost blend with the dark;
the white of the window
and a little white orb,
possibly a candle,
is the only color there,
besides my grandma
surprised at the camera.

A little off center
showing from her shoulders up
she stands,
as if suddenly turned to answer the call of
‘Marie’
or ‘Mom’
or the cry of a grandchild.
Turned abruptly she met with a flash
a candid moment capture but surely her best.

If you knew my grandma
then surely you’d know
that after this picture was take she would laugh,
a laugh so contagious
because that’s who she was.
And if you really knew my grandma
then surely you’d know
(that if she wasn’t cooking)
she was probably holding one of her grandchildren
in this picture
because she lived for them,
and she would knit
and cook
and sing for them:

‘I love you, a bushel and a peck”

Or maybe in this picture
she might’ve been cooking for her family
like she did daily.
A traditional Italian woman,
and one of the best,
she lived to serve
her family
her children
and her grandchildren:

‘A bushel and a peck and you make my heart a wreck’

Her off pink shirt was cleanly pressed,
her salt and pepper hair,
natural, and curly like mine.
Her enormous glasses rimmed in a dash of brown color
they reflect her eyes
and her surprise
and the flash of light:

‘I love you, a bushel and a peck’

Her mouth half open with surprise
show her two front teeth with a little space in between,
eyebrows high,
and eyes open wide,
body half turned,
unseen hands busy with food or with child,
always handled with care
and I can still hear her singing as if she is right here:

‘Yes I do,’

She probably laughed her full laugh after the moment was captured
and patted her hair,
and stirred her fresh pot of sauce,
and kissed a grandchild
because that’s who she was:

‘I love you,’

This picture captures who she is:
surprised
and open,
and always busy with love,
and then she’d finish her song with:
                                                                                                                                                                                       
‘Scooby Doo’

And then she’d laugh.

No comments:

Post a Comment