I can still smell the snowmelt
After all these years
A childhood beckons, tugs
My memory opens and embraces
Soggy grass
Puddles in the street
Wet shoes
Stuffed with newspaper
Atop the radiator by the backdoor
Archive for the ‘Homelife’ Category
Shoes On The Radiator
February 23, 2021The long uphill walk
July 28, 2019
Old lawn chairs at the lake
Circa 1946, after the war
Steel
Heavy, very heavy
Yet very comfortable
A reminder of my parents
Those chairs, their chairs
Brought to this cabin
For their 50s
Summer home
During the walk from the lakeshore
The long uphill walk
Midway from the lake to the cabin
Those chairs
A welcome respite
Sometimes I imagine
Mom and Dad
Sitting in those chairs
At night, overlooking the lake
Bathed in starlight
Their ashes are nearby
Estrangement
August 24, 2017Heartache
Emerges unsummoned
From the subconscious
Takes up residence
Down low
In the stomach
Until
Nothing else matters
A simple question,
“What’s wrong?”
Brings a flood of tears
Washing away
Much of the ache
Leaving behind
Deep sorrow
Confusion, longing
©2017 Thomas W. Cummins
On this winter’s night
January 14, 2017Tuft by tuft
Pulled by the cold night air
Like feathers, heat leaves our bedroom
On this winter’s night
Reaching down
A second blanket is found
Pulled up around the neck
Warmth enfolds, sleep returns
© 2017 Thomas W. Cummins
Morning Shadows
May 21, 2015
This morning as I came down the stairs, the rising sun was casting shadows on the wall and closet door after passing through the lace curtain, past the dracaena marginata, and the stair rail. Leaves from outdoors were dancing amidst the lacy and muted pattern.
A Rosey Hue
November 10, 2014
Outside the window
Just beyond the Amana clock
Stands a Japanese maple
Its fall array of colors
Brilliant in the early afternoon sun
Filling the corner of the family room
With reflected light
Touching everything
A rosey hue
Never to be reproduced
By our meager palette
© 2014 Thomas W. Cummins
