Like clock-work, I know it’s time
to visit grandma for Christmas
Daddy makes all the plans
and we fly and fly
over the mountains and grasslands
of Africa
from Ethiopia to Nigeria
I love to sit next to daddy on the flight
because he lets me have all the chocs
When we land, I complain-
I can’t breathe!
It’s called humidity, daddy says
Mummy gives me bitter tablets
I hate them
It’s for the mosquitoes, she says
So, why can’t they have them? I cry
Another flight and a road trip where I sleep like the dead
Then…… Grandma!
She’s warm and soft and smells of
all my favourite foods
I forget my parents and follow her around
for the next 2 weeks
Grandma cooks on an open fire
in the backyard
It’s pure ecstasy to play around the fire with cousins I’ve never met
Even better when she puts all the food on one plate and tells us to dig in
Eight small hands dive in at the same time
and I join in -thinking it’s a race
Mummy frowns from our kitchen window
but let’s me be
After dinner, grandma starts singing and all my little cousins join in
as crickets chorus under the moonlit sky
I don’t understand the words
but the songs sink into my being
I always loved those Christmas holidays
-having all my meals under open skies
Even now, whenever I think of my grandma
I hear the faint humming in my bones
©Vivian Zems (Narrative Poetry)
Real Toads- Grandma’s Kitchen
September 21, 2019 at 8:39 pm
A beautiful remembrance. I can visualize you and little cousins, can hear the singing ….
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September 21, 2019 at 11:02 pm
Thanks Helen! It was magical to me at the time 🙂
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September 21, 2019 at 11:06 pm
Oh how beautiful, such life, sounds, and smells… Beautiful
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September 22, 2019 at 11:28 pm
Thanks Susie!
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September 22, 2019 at 12:20 am
Beautiful tale of family. Thanks for sharing. Hope my grandchildren cherish memories with me as you do.
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September 22, 2019 at 11:26 pm
I’m sure they will VJ😊
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September 22, 2019 at 12:45 am
I remember playing with cousins I didn’t know I had also. These were not first cousins, I often played with the oher eight of them. I barely knew who the ones on Mom’s side, they lived far away, Oregon.
Sounds like it was a nice occasion in all ways for you. (We didn’t fly.)
..
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September 22, 2019 at 11:26 pm
I guess if we had to count all our cousins, they would fill a small ship. Yes, it was lovely.
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September 22, 2019 at 1:59 am
Oh what a wonderful memory this is. Glorious! I especially love the memory of your grandma being the humming in your bones. I loved this poem so much, Vivian!
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September 22, 2019 at 11:16 pm
Thanks Sherry!
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September 22, 2019 at 7:34 am
This brings tears to my eyes, Viv… reading it down here in Africa.
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September 22, 2019 at 8:00 am
Ah! Kerry, so you can relate? I wasn’t sure anyone would be able to picture the scene. Grandma lived on a guesthouse in our compound- but she didn’t like cooking the kitchen. She always said there was more life out in her yard!
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September 22, 2019 at 2:57 pm
This reminds me of the compounds in Indonesia. A different and magical world.I love humidity.Dengue fever is horrendous so just as well you took the pills Great way to spend your Christmas holidays. About the mangoes….you have to smell them….often the gold ripe looking ones have no fragrance and sometimes the ones with green on them do….so buy the ones with the best overpowering fragrance.Also my Gran said do not attempt to make mayonnaise if you are menstruating LOL. She used to read tea leaves as well.
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September 22, 2019 at 11:04 pm
Thanks Rall! And thanks for the tip! Your Gran sounds like she was a great character😊
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September 22, 2019 at 4:49 pm
I love this, how you saw something so different from what the rest of us will ever do.. still a lot of things are the same, the cousins the food, to be there together.
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September 22, 2019 at 10:49 pm
Thanks Björn!
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September 23, 2019 at 3:43 pm
I love this Vivian. You have shared a memory that many of us never experienced in our childhood, or as adults. Thank you for opening your heart.
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September 23, 2019 at 11:29 pm
Thanks Linda😊🙏🏾
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September 28, 2019 at 5:23 am
Wow – you describe something so different from what I’ve ever experienced – I so enjoyed living this through your words – just beautiful!
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September 28, 2019 at 10:42 am
Thanks Margaret!😊
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