Grandma Poem by Ibn Ali

Today I sat alone by myself, with my friends
Excuse the contradiction but the lonely would know what I meant
I'm a crowd by myself
I laugh at my own expense
Things I've said
Head bowed in retrospect
I remember with clouded clarity
So I paint with vivid colours
To cover the memories
I remember grandma watching Days Of Our Lives
I didn't like it but I watched with her
Just so we'd have something to share
And I remember grandma penitent
Somewhere further down the line
She wished she learnt to read
But I was too inpatient to teach
She, too fossilized to learn
I remember grandma listening to lectures
I sat with her
Sat at her sewing machine
The tape offsets the whir
But she was listening
She was so long a seamstress
Her feet so light on the pedals
Glasses balanced on the tip of her nose
She'd stop to voice regret
She looked at me and said
We didn't know
If only we knew