I can see a short grey couple
Diagonally two doors over,
From our bathroom,
Invisibly joined at the hip.

Just like my late grandparents
Karl and Marie, washing dishes
Together in the kitchen window,
Their gaze could stop a clock,
And take you back in time.

I last thought of them before
The mirror folded lines in my face,
And before I noticed
The top of my hair missing
In a surveillance camera at Woolies.

I remember the model boats
Karl cut out of wood in his workshop
With several thousandth’s
Of an inch between pointer and thumb,
And my grandmothers slow pots
Percolating with pickled beef, sauerkraut
And hand rolled potato dumplings.

I wonder if they missed my teenage years?
When I dropped them during the seventies
Post the bunny and Santa show,
I wish I could reach out into the rushing rain
And touch the kitchen window.

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Thank you Catherine, we bought a house this time last year within about 1km from Cromer, where my grandparents first settled in after migrating from Germany. The story goes my Grandfather Karl a fitter and turner during the war, purposely built a yacht and sold it to fund the trip here! since living here I have been thinking of them, and of coarse they are definite hero's of mine.

Thanks for your response.

David. L

Hi David, we must embrace ageing! We are not getting older but wiser :-) I began accepting this notion when I hit 40. I enjoyed the nostalgia in this and the symbolic image of the mirror that reflects our future as aging couples. The last two lines are well written and provide a strong finish to your poem. Thank you for Sharing the interesting story of your grand parents. A few years ago I wrote my father's biography which also highlighted my family history, tracing
it back to 1690. I spent many hours interviewing my father and have
preserved a fascinating memoir of his life in a small village in
southern Greece. It recalls the hardships the second world war,
followed by chilling eyewitness accounts of the Greek civil war
which ensued until 1949. Speckled in-between are wonderful characters that provide some relief during these arduous years. The book is in the national library and I will endeavor to translate it into English one day.

Thanks Thomas, Its so true! We must embrace age, its a sign of a solid mind. What a wonderful thing you have done writing your fathers biography, it sounds like a fascinating read, If you translate it one day, I would be honoured to read it. 

You just don't know what fascinating stories lye within ones history, unless you make the effort to listen to them do you?

Cheers

 

David, the only way to go back is through the memory, memories like these never fade,

the last two lines express a universal need to relive a moment of love, a rememberance

of things past, small things, but to you important things. . . thanks . . . William

So true! thanks William.

David. L

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