yoncie hopa yamine
anna had three sons
a businessman a medical doctor and
a pastor and i said well when she dies
it looks like she’s got
all of her bases covered
a lot like my mom
in many ways
anna the oldest of six girls
my mom the youngest!. anna
became my mom’s mom
after gramma
lay down on the railroad tracks
that ran along the edge
of the farm
and anna was the smart one
that’s what mom always says
and i say mom you’re real smart
but mom says no!. anna
got the brains, i complained again
so mom straightened me out
on that
anna was the smart one
anna was her class president
anna was the valedictorian
anna always had bad health
even since she was young
and she still did all that
and people told me stories
mom tells me she remembers
she was six, anna was eighteen
and anna had seen her mom lying there
and came running over to her, screaming
and tried to pull her off the tracks
but gramma was a big woman
my mom says
and the train engineer saw something
and slammed on the brakes
but when he finally came to a stop
he ran back
and spoke to anna, who was that woman!?
and anna said, that was my mom
and sometimes i asked mom
about gramma, but usually she’d say
we don’t know much about that
but once she did say
her mom was increasingly nervous
starting about six months prior
to what happened, but no one said
maybe she was depressed
or something
instead mom likes to tell me
about her uncle
he was a great big man
and mom says he would pick her up
he was her favorite uncle
and on that day he picked mom up
and he didn’t say anything at all
but mom says she just remembers
that there were great big tears
in his eyes
when anna stood in our kitchen
and it’s been a while now
i was thinking
this might be my last chance
to see her because
we lived so far apart
and on the day we gathered
anna was eighty-five
and i remember she stammered
when we were talking
and she’d sort of huff
a kind of frustration
what was it i was saying!?
maybe it was her age
but i like to think
her mind was racing ahead
not falling behind
her mouth just couldn’t keep up
that day auntie anna taught me
to count to ten in sioux indian
sitting side by side on the couch
she just rattled it off, i insisted please
i need to write this down
yoncie hopa yamine
that was i got to three
topa zopta chockpi
chico shokologan nupchiunk
wikchemina
and i know now what i didn’t know then
that, anna i will see you again
we will all meet again
before that much longerWww@QuestionHome@Com