The Summer of 1948
I perch in my pepper tree.
Pungent scents, fingered
leaves embrace me.
A lady bug, dressed in red
with black polka dots
climbs my arm, tickles.
Ocean sand, white as the rind
of a watermelon, clings to my
bare toes.
Only hours ago I ran through it,
reaching out, stretching to catch
sapphires.
The smell of hot concrete
dampened by rain showers
lingers along with DDT
sprayed from a can with a
plunger like a bicycle pump.
I slip down the gnarly trunk,
enter the house by the
screen door near the
Bendix with the ringer where
Mama found a black widow
yesterday.
She’s melting a blue cube
of laundry starch
in hot water.
“Did you know I’m four
and a half today?”
I ask. She nods, smiles.
The black fan whirrs
in the background.
“Go on over to Stewie’s,” she says.
“It’s almost time for
Kukla, Fran and Ollie.”
Cross-legged on the floor
I watch the 12” screen,
Understand I am.
Fun his-tory/her-story prompt today at dVerse, offered by Brian Miller. This is a really old one about a time way back when. Hope you are able to read…Google Chrome users (only) are getting weird messages. I have no idea how to correct.