Childhood Circle

Grownups Talked

Grownups talked in the summer twilight.
They talked of ancestors they'd known
who plowed Kansas and mined Wyoming.
One told how timbers splintered in a mine,
mangling a father and the company mule.
Another's carpenter cousin fell
from a roof and broke his back.  One's brother
died in France, spared the war
by influenza and poisoned blood.
An uncle, three years old, tumbled
from a car, cracked his breastbone, and died.
At nightfall, they turned on parlor lights,
bid me kneel to say my prayers,
and sent me to bed in a darkened room.

Next Poem:  "Childhood Rules"

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Updated last on:  2001/05/23