a sunday in February

drops of history
drip drop
bleed into the flag
official hands bestow upon wrinkled ones
a daughter cries at the podium
no other clear memory of this before
a grandson describes
growing up with matchbox cars
and gathering around the TV
watching news everyone hated except grandpa
I remember
a son-in-law
once disliked
likely because he was a mucisian and a liberal
finally respected by the descerning man
quotes him,
"you're a good man, they're damn few of us left"
bursts of loud, much needed laughter
laughter expands across time and space infinitely
and a kind sneaky man
unsuspectingly
lifts a small weight off each of our shoulders
finishes his speech
ends by repeating
"you're a good, man, they're damn few of us left"
this time facing his wooden box in tribute
everyone in the audience is thinking,
"one fewer now"
relatives in formal buttoned jackets
and pressed black pants
shovel dirt like coalmines
hot morning sun in Febuary
and reconviene
at the middle daughter's house
see the slideshow
pictures from now and then
three little girls huddle around the legs
of a sincerely smiling man and wife
the coloration of the photo is rustic
in another
the man and wife fight over a camera
caught in the moment
joking frustration
a series was taken
you can almost hear them burst out in laughter
over something silly
that one cannot remember well
and one cannot remember at all
but still
the laughter streches across space and time
and all the relatives feel it
they feel it in their gut
and so they laugh too
and then they smile and tear up a bit
in admiration of this pair
she was his memory
he was her eyes
she was his feet
he was her ears
and it worked...they managed
and more importantly
they loved
when the grandaughter sat next to the wife
she hears her grandmother say,
"well....24 years is a whole lot."
and the grandaughter thinks
"how can she be so grateful,
still"
but she also thinks
"24 years
is a whole lot,
I hope that lies in my future"
and when the man and wife kissed the last time
it was much sweeter and more meaningful than the first
and everyone knew it
love overcame their jealously
they were proud to have known the wife and the husband
but even more
they were proud to see the beautiful thing that the two shared
love lingers
but no one is left to share it with