Tuesday, December 22, 2015

December 22 -Lavina Blossom

Grandma Was a Cow
            inspired by Dee Marcellus Cole’s sculpture


No brisket, which is that hanging
skin below the neck.  My grandmother
had one.  But this Grandma’s gaunt
and bug-eyed, two long
skinny legs in small boots.
She’s also cloaked and winged,
donning a mask on her head
like a grinning cap.  A smallish fellow,
wearing a sombrero, his body shaped
like another cow’s head, drapes
down her back, and yet another guy
nestles in his hollowed-out gut.

This grandma has layers.  She’s
complicated.  Mine was, too, but kept
her demons better hidden.  No bright
south-of-the-border ensemble, no array
of patterns in oranges, pinks, purples,
vivid blues.  No attention-grabber, my Gram.
She kept her head low, while this one
stands right up straight, a life-size
candelabra adorned with wicks, daring us
to strike a match.  But we can’t set her on fire,
or all these teasing hints to her mysteries would
disappear in smoke and ash.

Lavina Blossom



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