Sunday Glasses (here goes, my first StaPoWriMo post)
Six gold rimmed tumblers, elegantly etched
with red roses on slender green stems
(there were only daisies in your garden,
and other people’s chip papers),
huffed on with breath hot from gravy tasting
and polished with your hedgerow flowers tea cloth.
They’d been free with coupons from Daz,
taken down every Sunday
from the high paper-lined shelf
to be filled with cream soda from the Alpine Pop Man
who came every week in his jingling lorry
and gave us copper for last weeks’ empties,
which you let us keep.
There are only five glasses now.
And roses in the garden.
This is lovely, Sarah. What makes it work so well is the huge back story that’s hinted at (other people’s chip papers, coupons from Daz) without the need to spell it out. There’s so much warmth in it. As I said, lovely.
Enjoyed this – so much prettiness, attention to detail and poignancy (word I couldn’t spell!). The detail leaves us in no doubt that it is real and real poems stand out a mile.
Love the final couplet, Sarah
The past evoked with panache!
Thanks for all your comments. I was inspired by your poem Johnathon. I’ll pay attention to the lay-out next time!