Understand
it was what
he wasn’t saying
that I heard
and I wish
I’d had the words
but only
his Mama would
and I know
what he’d give
to have her here
to tell his troubles to
and she’d know
just what to do
“and they’d laugh
‘til they turned blue”
no more
and the sunlight
would stream
through the windows
of her country kitchen
and she wouldn’t waste
one minute
there’d be flour
everywhere
and pots bubbling
and chicken frying
and casseroles rising
and pies puffing
and lemons swimming in sweet tea
and he’d be whistling all the while
a happy tune
of better days
and it’d be
the best meal
he ever had
there
with his Mama
in her country kitchen
filled with words
of whispered wisdom
(I wrote this for Mitch Sneed
after we ran into each other at a yard sale in 2011.
Mitch is with his Mama now, July 2018)
TL