I wrote this poem about a childhood memory nearly10 years ago. Mother's second husband-to-be lived on a street parallel to our own, separated by Shady Brook Park. On snowy days Mother would often pull my sister and me through the park on a sled. One day we just happened to meet up with a man we didn't know.
Two tiny girls
capped and mittened,
snug on a baby's sled,
Mother's boots squeaking
in the crisp, new snow
as she pulled us along,
down the hill
and through the park,
across the creaky wooden bridge.
The stream trickled slowly
as water stood freezing in the pond.
Bare branches rattled in the ice-blue sky,
clutching at winter as if to hold it close.
Spring was stirring in our mother's frozen heart.
Who was this man we didn't know?
Her smile was warm as April,
her laughter, dazzling as crystals.
Who was this man out walking in the snow?
Love this! It's right to the point so this means you were meeting your stepfather but didn't know it
ReplyDeleteHe was always "Charles" to me. I never saw him as a stepfather because I rarely saw my mother after the divorce.
DeleteYou remember a lot of details!
ReplyDeleteI actually remember sled rides and the fact that he lived on the other side of the park, but several blocks down that street, and I remember cold winters, but as for the rest . . ...
DeleteWhat a wonderful poem.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteNow that's quite a memory.
ReplyDeleteYes, although parts of it are imagined.
DeleteIt was excellent.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeletePowerful poem. I can imagine the scene exactly!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteHow fun...
ReplyDeleteand in Seventh-Heaven,
we'll be able to do that 24/7!!
GBY