Elder’s Tales

She is smiling at me

Proud of what she sees

Delighted, moved, elated

That I am staying

To keep her company.

 

Nobody is ever that happy to see me

She loves me and I love her

More than words can say –

Though believe me, I am rarely at a loss

When it comes to them.

 

She tells me stories of a time past

When she was still able to walk,

And live, and thrive, and be.

 

Her memory is the most amazing wonder

Of all. She remembers everything

From the name of my mother’s first pet

To random names – Donata and Anne Marie –

The daughters of that French man

Who married an Italian woman ages ago.

 

She tells jokes and

Builds bridges out of thoughts.

She jumps from one subject to the other

With such agility. Immersive small talk is her specialty.

Her knowledge of our family history – and of all the families

Who ever lived in the area – is endless, really.

 

I am captivated.

I listen to her and almost forget

She is restless.

 

Her cheerful facade never holds up long enough

To fool those who know her best.

 

She has already been showing signs.

As hard as she is trying

She can’t hide those twitches of pain

From shadowing her tales.

The expressions of her face,

 

Her voice, her laughs, her bitter banters even,

I wish I could record her, to keep her longer,

But even if I did,

It would never be the same without her.

 

*

 

I love you Mamie <3, please fight the pain. Don’t give up,

and stay with me for as long as you can.

 

---

Featured image captured in Veynes’ artificial lake, Hautes Alpes, France, with my iPhone 5c, HDR, in September 2014.

 

---