Iva
Dear Henry,
I found this picture of Mother
in Great Uncle's attic.
Wishing I could send you
that dead coyote.
Bet it would be worth more than
all those skunks you trapped
last summer
when you hatched that plan
to get rich quick.
Let me tell you,
rich ain't always grand.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016
That really is a striking photo. I was wondering what you were going to do with it. Now I know! Er...or sort of...
ReplyDeleteYou've been so good at keeping the story going and providing just enough of a clue to wonder how these are going to interrelate, but also enough so that each poem works by itself, too.
What an interesting voice in this poem, in some ways almost taunting
"Bet it would be worth more than
all those skunks you trapped"
but also philosophical (almost resigned...?)
"Let me tell you,
rich ain't always grand."
Wow. This is fun.
AJ and I were talking about the age of this photo compared to the first ones in the set, and then the age of the car in the next one. I had to find a way to go back a couple of generations.
DeleteBut now that I've got Iva in Denver, I think next week's poems will be her missing life on the farm. Maybe I can fill in some of the gaps from this week...or maybe that's another project for another time!!
Yes, you can always fill in later... keep doing what you're doing! Wonderful to see the connections your mind is making... creating whole lives here. Keep going! xo
Deletep.s. that dead coyote!!!
"rich ain't always grand"
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's for sure.
These people are talking to you. I swear.
xx
All those skunks you trapped last summer??? Holy cow! There has to be more to that story!
ReplyDeleteRETRIBUTION
Every year
Pa takes a picture
on my birthday
I always wanted a pet
and the last three years
I've picked up
our gray tiger Caesar
he's mostly a barn cat
but on my birthday
I pretend I'm all kinds of fine
and sit in the front room
holding him in my lap
usually I have to snitch
a little piece of chicken
and hide it in my pocket
to make him stay
and in the pictures
his nose is always slightly upturned
because he is searching
for that chicken
This year
we don't have Caesar
We found some gray tiger fur
stained red
out in the cornfield
and Pa said
the coyotes musta got
our gray tiger
mostly barn
but pretend pet Caesar
Not sure why
Pa thought
it would be good
to take a picture of me
with this coyote he shot
behind the chicken house
a couple of months ago.
That coyote's not nearly as fine
as poor Caesar.
(C) Carol Wilcox, 2016
I agree with Mary Lee. Didn't see it coming! Loved it. And loved line like these: "gray tiger/mostly bar/but pretend pet Caesar"! Cool.
DeleteHeartbreak. This happens out where we live...not to us yet...but to neighbor cats. Tough livin' in the country...
DeleteI did NOT see that coming!! Yikes. (Which is to say...well done!!)
ReplyDeleteCarol, your poem, so sad. Love the concept of a pretend pet.
ReplyDelete