Posted in The Twelve Pack

Not for Sale

Posted on by tq1695

Grandma and Grandpop never called it the Depression –
the Great Depression of textbooks,
they spoke of “ the Slump.”
What was it like?
I was then 19 – had studied economics, was curious to learn
fiction and fact .. from the matter of fact.

Best not to know,
Lord have mercy it never happens again –
but, on second thoughts,
19 is beyond childhood, old enough to vote, or go to war

What was it like?
Grandma said a man came to the house
selling, but no salesman
a silver tea set : family heirloom
it was beautiful – the price almost nothing,
but still too much.
The man turned away … and then back
afternoon was leaving, soon it would be night
the price was now whatever my grandfather had in his pocket
– a few shillings,
he handed them to the man, and shook his head.

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Author:

Most of my life has been spent on the bench, occasionally called into the game by extravagance or attenuation. Waiting has turned a loner into a recorder - nondescript and inconsequential, more not noticed than overlooked - the non-vantage point of children not yet considered old enough to understand. Orphaned Islands (Un)poetry is a lifetime of picking anecdotes up and not throwing them away. Stories collected like odds and ends placed in a box in the basement, the garage, the garden shed - uncertain as to what their use might be but knowing that one day there might be one.