Two Poems by George Ella Lyon
Old Folk @ the Grocery
I thought I saw Mary Travers at the Beaumont Kroger—
Mary in her middle years: ample. Jangled, I reached for
walnuts instead of apples. I have seen, via wifi, Mary’s
grave. I watched, via YouTube, her memorial. I’m wary
of my heart’s readiness to behold her alive, thirty
years younger, in a supermarket in the state where
she was born. Re-seen, after reckoning, this grocery
Mary is a far cry from that blond with the famous voice
heard here every Thursday during oldie’s discount day.
“The answer is blowin’ in the wind” she gives us, as we
navigate the produce aisle. Later, in dairy, “And when I
die, there’ll be one child born and a world to carry on.”
What Story Asks
Once upon a time there was—you know: forest, castle, king, princess, glass mountain or perhaps slipper, and of course ogre or other EvilEvilEvil. This could be a long time from now in a language not yet in anyone’s mouth. That the kingdom falls in a swoon goes without saying. Also the wreath of briars, elephant-high, that seals off what’s precious. Poison apple, less one bite, rolled away. Or the forbidden wheel still spinning. You must journey to the pond at briar’s edge. Go at first light when the water is still. Lean and look. Do you see prince, ogre, spindle? or your still face under glass?
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