Cliché Money and Changes

I used to cheat playing Marco Polo

Squinting my eyes

Underneath water

I was not a very good swimmer

I cannot think of her face

I cannot recall the look of

The Kitchen

In the bedrooms

Carpet and curtains are dark

She made me toy owl kitties

Grandma took us for

Ice cream sundaes

 With caramel colored plastic monkeys

Whose tails curled

He was nearly my age

With a present always

Under the tree

I remember her son

He was blond like me

He’d play pretend dogs

I would eat sweet clover

I smell the pine trees

My Grandpa dove into her pool

The first time I saw blue

Sparrows Navy 1943

She died alone

In the shower

A shotgun wound

Money really does

What they all say

This poem was inspired by my last visit to North Dakota to stay with my grandparents and inquiring about my grandma's friend and neighbor. They had a son, Cameron, with whom I played when visiting. The family had moved to another state and my grandma was informed that her friend had committed suicide.