Aunt

[Read Write Poem challenged us this week to write about family - specifically an aunt.]



Aunt

I don't remember Aunt Lucy,
my great-aunt, sister of my grandma.
The family called her Lucy and Lucile,
though her birth certificate
called her Jessie Lucile.

I heard stories of Aunt Lucy,
how she called my mother "Midge"
when mom was a kid,
when they shared a bedroom
in that house on the hill.

Her sisters spoke of Aunt Lucy,
and how she would have
been tickled by me,
usually when I did something
particularly clever.

They told me about Aunt Lucy,
and I know we would have loved
to share desserts, especially
those with whipped cream.
They teased me that I was like her,
and that she would have eaten
a corn-cob if it had whipped cream on it.

I don't remember Aunt Lucy
though she met me before she died.
My mom made sure of that,
taking the infant me to her hospital,
where I'm told she was charmed.

I never knew Aunt Lucy,
but I wish I had.