What A Continuum! Poem by Uma Pochampalli Goparaju

It seems like yesterday

That I saw the bluebird

Chirping at the window sill,

I hear my grandma say still,

it was her favorite blue jay

it was a gorgeous evening

birds were flocking warmly

and there he goes

along with the wind

grandma's blue jay

like a prince among his kind

last night I dreamt,

i am back in those days

my kittens hiding

under the wooden trunk

about the size of a small room

my hands too tiny

They could fit in the narrow passage

Between the wall and the trunk

So I could lure the kitten

To come fetch the cookie in my hand

To my vain she hissed and waved her paw

I dropped the cookie and ran away in awe

I pulled some courage

Went to her again

Sounded as if I was a kitten

As I went on conversing in kitten!

My mom called me and

I went into the kitchen,

There I saw cats ten

Surrounding my grandpa's

Plate as he shared his dinner

With each one of them

Particularly of interest

Was the one with only eye

He was too kind as it was also

Limping as he walked,

He may have been blinded because

He was too nagging

Think someone may have hit him

So the grandpa was all too kind to

Feed each one of them

Was that yesterday, oh no!

It is so many years!

I remember all that as I am

Talking to my grand niece,

Who writes poems about

Beautiful gardens and lakes

And misty air with birds

Chirping in the air!

As she recites, i see her

Bright eyes matching with her flair!

All of a sudden it struck me

The blue jay that has shown me

Passion to song and rhyme

Was home from the shore,

Not yesterday but

At least a couple of scores before