The Table

I miss those days.

I miss my Grenny's table, in the kitchen, with its twin brought up the worn wooden stairs,

Nestled side by side, formica inset in metal, so retro.

Tables sagging with the weight of food,

Forty or more family members trying to jam together on the benches.

Who wants to eat in shifts? Not this family! Call me rude, but don't call me late for dinner!

My family wasn't perfect, isn't perfect - whose is?

But everything of importance happened around that table.

Work, play, intensity, mirth.

Walnut harvesting, and pulling out the nutmeats.

Making Christmas ornaments after the Thanksgiving meal.

Watching the killer foursome playing Pinochle -

Pop's partner always cheated,

and Dad would cheat right back to get even.

And people wondered how me, a girl, could take the players down in college!

Chow-chow, fasnachts, rolling dough for pies, shelling peas and beans,

Recording the family history,

Typing up Pop's book about the town.

Marking quilts to be sewn,

Making new patterns out of cereal box cardboard when the old ones fuzzed.

Of course I miss those days,

I was a kid,

And had no adulting to do.

Responsibilities?

Eating all the cauliflower out of the chow-chow,

Eating at least six fasnachts right out of the fryer,

Making ornaments that still decorate my tree.

Help picking the tiny bits of black walnut out of the nuts...

I was really good at that part.

The farm's been sold, and may they love the place as much as we did,

But those two tables

Are under my elbows as I type

And sitting in the kitchen under a lot of spices.

I make jewelry here, and funky craft projcts,

And we eat our meals on it,

And we scan important documents,

And I write here.

My thoughts, my feelings, the stuff I wrestle with,

All here on the family table.

The traditions stay alive, they continue,

Though perhaps the form changes

And transmutes through the passage of time.

The cast of characters may change, but echoes and ghosts remain,

Welcome in my words and heart

Around the table they'll remember.