Their
stories were told around dinner tables,
Under trees
in backyards as busy hands
Shucked corn
or shelled butter beans.
Anecdotes
grew into short narratives
And into
life lines drawn across generations,
Myths
carried by word of mouth
As if sung
in epic poems.
One birthed
twelve children with nine surviving;
All nine
said she always smiled.
A
hand-colored photo was taken by a photographer,
Traveling
from house to house.
She sat on a
bench in a purple dress with a lace collar;
her husband
stood behind her.
She looked
at the photographer.
Her husband
looked at her.
It hung over
a fireplace
Long after
their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
One was
photographed for her wedding.
She and her
husband stared at the photographer.
Her
high-necked lace gown was kept in a closet.
A large hand-colored
portrait of her was taken in a studio.
She sat on a
high-backed chair
In a dark
green dress holding a red rose.
One nursed
her children through diphtheria.
One starved
and gave what food she had to her son.
One had a
house full of laughter and hand-me-downs,
Depression
era rations, home-made fudge,
And macaroni
with cheese and tomatoes.
One traveled
on a boat across the Atlantic with her only child.
Pneumonia
and starvation were their companions.
Her husband--killed
in the first world war.
One made
baby beds out of empty cigar boxes
Lined with
white lace and pink flannel,
For little
girls who called her Nannie.
One didn’t
know she would have grandchildren.
One died at
83.
One died at
34 bringing her son to Ellis Island;
Some said
she was buried at sea;
Some said
she was buried on land.
One rests
forever beside her husband.
One was lost
and found
Almost a
century later.
State of New
York
Department
of Health of the City of New York
Bureau of
Records
Standard
Certificate of Death.
The name of
the cemetery listed.
©cmheuer, 2018
