Pages

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

3 poems


by mary c fogg

illustrations by jacqueline le mot





pictures

pictures on
walls - mostly

unnoticed,
once in a

great while, a
visitor

looks up and
suddenly

asks, who is
that? and the

host, wakened
from the day

says, oh that
is aunt so

and so, or
grandmother

so and so,
and then the

visitor,
satisfied

or not, nods
politely

or perhaps
remarks - how

solemn they
all looked back

then! - so long
long ago -

to be fixed
forever

in one pose
or to be

forgotten -
i know which

i would choose -
but then -






grandfather

grandfather
was said to

never smile,
except when

engaged in
slicing meat

or, briefly,
after he

swallowed his
food or drink

but in the
picture on

the wall of
aunt lucy’s

house, which we
visited

once a year
and which i

eagerly
looked forward

to, i thought
i saw just

the slightest
sign of, i

will not say
humor, but

a message
to the world

which i, too
send forth on

a daily
basis, that

i would be
most pleased to

smile, even
perhaps laugh

if only there
were something

to smile or
laugh about






grandmother

grandmother’s
picture, on

the wall at
aunt lucy’s

never failed
to draw a

response, from
those who had

never seen
it, and from

those, like me,
who saw it

once a year -
always the

same response -
undisguised

mirth, at the
forbidding

scowl of the
old woman,

exuding
right motives

and pure deeds
but drawing

only smiles -
forever



No comments: