Again

[Read Write Poem asked us to go green. Here's what the other folks came up with.]


Again

The first drawer to the left
of the stove held rubber bands and
an old sandwich bag with used paraffin.
The oven's lower rack
held a stack of used aluminum foil.
And we never ran short of twist ties.

T-shirts and towels became rags
for dusting or washing the car.
Empty plastic ice cream buckets
carried vegetables from the garden
or at least garden tools.

One quilt challenged us
to remember which patch
came from which dress.
Toys and dolls from one generation
entertained at least two more.

My grandma used an old coke bottle
fitted with a nozzle to sprinkle
cotton shirts before she ironed them.
And she used to tell us
the same stories over and over
as we listened in familiar comfort.