A Poem
My great, great grandchild speaking with her mother ~
This old book is falling apart.
It shows a moon in a blue sky.
It must be really old Mom,
Nobody’s seen that since 2065.
The author is Gramma K’s Grandpa,
an old hippie who wrote poetry,
He died over a hundred years ago,
Gramma K’s mom bought this property.
His wife was gigi, the artist
who did the drawings in the hall,
and the paintings in the library,
and these here on the wall.
She refused to sell her art,
no matter how strong her urging.
Notoriety didn’t drive her,
her steadfastness was encouraging.
Now it hangs in the Shelburne museum,
beside her grandpa’s work.
Maybe your talent comes from her
and your gift isn’t just a quirk.
If she knew how valuable her art would be,
She’d say to use it where there was a need.
Gramma K said all gigi ever wanted,
was for her family to succeed.
Why don’t you read Grampa’s poems,
and we’ll talk about him after a while.
She giggled and weeped as she read,
until her mom returned and she smiled.
He said his give-a-shit factor was high,
that he didn’t like some old guy who lied.
That he was too weak to save the world,
but that the force was still strong inside.
He said he was an introvert,
and that life was his muse.
And he wrote about the stuff
that repeatedly lit his fuse.
He talked about diversity,
and liked the words “you do you”.
He thought that “I’m Ok, You’re Ok”
should be taught in public school.
And that the precept “Do no harm”,
should really say “be cool, not cruel”.
He believed in liberal ideals,
and he wrote morality’s words.
Aspired to be an enlightened soul,
be injustice’s Mockingbird.
He was a passionate proliferator,
a composer of intangibles as it were
who didn’t trust his digital rhymes
which are all he had to leave behind
would survive through the annals of time.
So he published his poems in hard cover,
something tangible for his descendants,
that they might know him by his rhyme.
But the thing he longed for so very much,
was for his words and the hands
of his kid’s kid’s kids to one day touch.
Because that would be like he
was also touching them.
© May 26, 2023 ~ RidgeMagee
