Leatha Kendrick
Photo: koalazymonkey
Remember the milk (2%
of the time I forget.) Remember
that Brown Swiss calf we brought
home in the back seat of Daddy’s old
gray Dodge?
Remember to turn off the lights—
when you sleep, when you leave
the house or a room. Remember
the t.v. Mom never turned off?
her last days in the wide blue
recliner I boughtat Friendly
Furniture on South Main?
Remember the Maine! We learned
in school. Where did it blow up?
Wasn’t it Cuba?
Remember to feed
the cat while I’m gone, and make sure
there’s water for her. Two bowls
of water—she drinks a lot. Oceans and
oceans, as Granma would say, and
We’ve got all the time in the world. . .
Remember that? And her so old already,
so German with her hascie-pooey
and her pusskins? Her button box
at the foot of the basement steps?
Remember
to wipe your feet on the mat – mud!
remember the mud we tracked in for months
when we built the house and spring peepers
hatched from long garlands of eggs
in the marsh pools swelling the foot of the hill?
How loud they sang that April long and how
I missed it! when, deeply dug, a drain
dried up eggchains, marsh-wet, songs.
Remember
all prisoners siphoned from home, in your
prayers recall them. Remember the list
of “God bless”es on summer nights,
when Granma lay us down to sleep— bless
Mommy and Daddy, Chip and Johnny,
grandmas and grandpas – one already
in heaven – and Barney
our dog, in heaven, too – and
remember to pick up the cleaning, go by the library,
take back that book.
Remember!
It’s overdue.
6 comments so far ↓
Sherry Chandler // Jan 10, 2010 //
Excellent — I love the way the poem wanders and returns around the center of the to-do list. Beautifully put together and with the great compassion that is typical of Leatha’s work.
Karen George // Jan 10, 2010 //
Such a haunting poem, filled with love and longing, simply and yet intricately woven around the idea of a ‘to-do list,’ and all the things we remember and forget in life.
Bobbi Rightmyer // Jan 10, 2010 //
Lovely poem – I like the way it mashes the present with the past. It makes me remember the old sayings my Granny always had for us. There is so much I have forgotten, but it’s amazing how one word or a phrase can bring it all back.
Winny Jernigan // Jan 13, 2010 //
¡Me gusta!
Sherry Chandler » Blog Archive » Announcements // Jan 13, 2010 //
[...] of Leatha Kendrick, don’t miss the opportunity to read her List Poem at the Public [...]
Jan Cook // Feb 8, 2010 //
Ah yes, the lists we make. This one is for keeping.
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