Love On The Road We hug and kiss in the fast food parking area From their SUV my family waves farewell to me We are on the same road until they slow to approach their exit For an instant we are side by side Everyone turns in their seats and throws me an extra kiss They look like any other family Except they’re my family # # # Crossing Over My daughter runs, hops, and skips To the curb’s edge For her ritual rite of passage I assure her it’s safe to cross She runs, hops and skips To the opposite curb “I’m a grown up now,” she yells I yelled back, “Don’t grow up yet. You have time.” Like a child I run, hop and skip To my daughter’s side Before it’s too late # # # LETTING GO The birch, the elm, the aging spruce Cannot restrain the restless roots Of saplings drawn to the silent sound Of brothers heading skyward bound Youthful trees spreading their wings Dropping away childish things Until what was is no more Like climbing marks on a young lad's door # # # WITHERING SLEIGHTS I start to age ten minutes out of bed More fragile than in the olden days but not yet dead My son-in-law hovers behind me when I walk In case I stumble as we talk My daughter gave me a three pronged cane She concealed it in the quiche Lorraine A stranger volunteers a seat to me L4 and L5 express relief A happy respite from their commander in chief Others hold a door open with a ‘there you go.’ Refer to me as Papa Make me aware that “The door button is on the left.” I go home bereft. # # # GRANDMA ROSE From the hollows of my mind I saw your smiling face materialize On my screen of nocturnal illusions Untethered by the narcotic of night Your everlasting soul Appeared in my realm of reveries I know now that it is true There is more than life to look forward to # # #
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Irving Glassman is a former high school teacher who has been writing poetry, fiction and non-fiction pieces as well as two ten-minute plays. He has been published in the Chronogram magazine, Karpeles, and online in Bright Sleep, Voices From Here, Foliate, and most importantly The Fictional Cafe 6/18/19. This is his second feature on The Fictional Café.
