Thursday, October 25, 2007

One Hundred Years

[Inspired by the prompt at Totally Optional Prompts. I'm glad to be back in the land of high-speed Internet.]


One Hundred Years


My great-aunt saw
the turn of the century --
the last one, that is.

They said she learned
to walk holding onto
a wagon tongue
as it rolled out to
Oklahoma
to homestead.

I saw the recent
turn of the century.
My days were busy
chasing the Y2K bug.




17 comments:

Lisa Cohen said...

LOL--I like the irony in this piece.

sister AE said...

Thanks, LJCohen. I tried to blend that with a feeling of how foreign the acts of the different centuries are from each other.

HL said...

Love irony. Coffee is good - especially the "brown as a river" kind with a double shot and Irish Cream (^_^). Nice job finding Kooser.

Cornfedtrouble: straightforward view of the ordinary

sister AE said...

Thanks, HL.

Jo said...

Yes, I like this one too! I'm having such fun zipping around reading all the contributions! A great juxtaposition.

paisley said...

following dreams to lands unknown,, and chasing bugs that don't exist... and they call this progress....

sister AE said...

Hi, Jo. The prompt certainly has taken us all over, hasn't it? Thanks.


Hello, paisley. I wanted to tie in something about speculating about the NEXT turn of the century, but I am just as unable to imagine that as my great-aunt would have my job.

Tumblewords: said...

Oh, didn't we all. And now that, too, is almost forgotten! Nicely told with poignancy and humor...

Christine Swint said...

You point out two points in time that have seen the greatest changes inbetween their years. Vivid images.

sister AE said...

Hi, tumblewords. Thanks. Would you believe I just uncovered a folder of Y2K paperwork that a former boss saved!? It is now comfortably being recycled.

Hello, Mariacristina. Welcome and thanks.

Deb said...

Nice pull of irony here between your lives.

sister AE said...

Thanks, ...deb, and welcome back.

Jessica said...

that second stanza is amazing!

gautami tripathy said...

I feel recycled. I love poems like this. With a touch of irony.

wendy said...

learning to walk in oklahoma.

a perfect moment.

Mad Kane said...

Wonderful contrast between the two centuries!
Mad Kane

sister AE said...

Thanks, Jessica. It truly is the story I have always been told, though the wording is all mine.

Welcome back, Gautami. Thank you.

Hi, Wendy. Thanks. When I was thinking about her and the turn of the century, that seemed very emblematic.

Hello, Mad Kane. I'm glad you like it.