Sunday, September 8, 2013

While eating thai food & memories


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 ~

24 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. This is wonderful! I wonder what memories my children will keep as well.

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  3. Nice to find you here Grace - a real power ending to this - how stright the back indeed... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com

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  4. Grace, 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!

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  5. first, 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...

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  6. Great poem, Grace! I like how you link your own memories with the questions you as yourself about being remembered.

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  7. sensitive portrayal of age, memory and loss.

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  8. love this, the clarity of memories, of mind despite the over-aged body

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  9. This is touching and makes me ponder the same question

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  10. this is a great poem..i like the question what our children will hold of us, what kind of memories they will make...

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  11. Grace 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.

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  12. Wow, 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.

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  13. Must 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.

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  14. Between 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!

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  15. I wonder that, too.

    Have a good week, Grace ~ M

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  17. Ah, old age can get scary...am glad that in a gathering dusk, her mind still grabs hold of the good memories!
    Very beautiful, Grace:)

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  18. 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.

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  19. I always love learnnig people's stories...everyone has one don't they? Sounds like she has stories that could fill volumnes of books...

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  20. stooped, spoon heavy - a beautiful use of words. One photo album - and countless memories ... she keeps praying. Stunning.

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  21. She sounds like an amazing woman . . . what stories she could tell.

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  22. as i eat my thai noodles & satay, i wonder
    what 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

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