Today I Shall Remember Grandmother Poem by RIC BASTASA

she knows what fine clothes are
and how jewelries are worn
and shown on special occasions
she knows what parties fit
for congressman as guest
or the mayor of the city with
their first ladies liking the
food and dances and socializing
in the big, old house

the symbol of her peak times
when her name rings
when her social graces
are accepted as rules

i guess she likes the shape
of my face, the color of my
skin, the way my hair curl
the bridge of my nose
the sharp blades of my shoulders

she handpicked me away
from mother, whom she despised
as a woman without culture
and taste, she brought me like
the son of a man with class
and gave me language and
pride and disgust for the
ordinary and the nonsensical

away from mother inside
my room of comfort and style
it was sad and tragic and something
that i cannot forget and which i

too despised, and from then on
i think i learned what hatred is

my first lesson of a family feud
the fight between mothers and
daughters-in-law and the grandson
caught in between wanting to breathe

run away and thinking things all over again