Carmela

by

Luigi Lalumia

They are putting Aunt Mela in a nursing home tomorrow
She is 95
Aunt Mela cannot live alone anymore
I feel honored because she recognized my face on Easter

Aunt Mela was my Grandma Nena's best friend
I say was because Grandma Nena is in heaven now
The cancer ended her dance
I wonder if Grandma Nena is quietly consoling her friend
Whispering in her ear that there is means to the end
Is it she Aunt Mela is listening to while sitting in her trance

Aunt Mela and Grandma Nena

I remember when they would babysit me
They seemed old even back then
All three of us in Aunt Mela's '74 green Nova
The back seat bench was huge to me
I must have been nine or ten
My legs stuck to the breathless houndstooth vinyl seat
Peeling them off was like melting cheese to cellophane

We traveled to Aunt Angels house to pick pears
I played under the Magnolia tree for hours
The sweet smell of Magnolia still takes me back there
I played while three Italian cream cakes split hairs

Tonight I lay in my bed
As I think of the past
The visions of Grandma Nena and Aunt Mela together long ago
I think soon
They will be together again
With that tears roll and roll into a steady flow
Silently
Breathlessly I sob
My breath held as not to disturb my manhood
Concentrating on every drop that falls to the page of the book I read

Each tear a memory

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NEXT?
Why don't you look at Another Federal Election is looming
by: Francis Duggan
from: Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia

To visit all of Luigi Lalumia's poems, click HERE

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