April 1, 2019<\/p>\n
Post #235<\/p>\n
National Poetry Month<\/p>\n
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“Ida Matilda\u2019s Cream Pitcher”<\/p>\n
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I loved to spend endless, languid<\/p>\n
days at Grandma\u2019s house, sitting<\/p>\n
around her plentiful kitchen table… Ida<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Matilda\u2019s raisin-filled cookies, sprinkled with<\/p>\n
granulated sugar<\/p>\n
apple pies and yeast breads served hot from her oven<\/p>\n
tart cherry desserts and homemade blackberry jam<\/p>\n
I poured fresh cream this morning, from her old ivory<\/p>\n
creamer<\/p>\n
little piece of McCoy pottery, circa 1940,\u00a0 Art<\/p>\n
Deco, with faded daisies and pale green<\/p>\n
leaves, beside<\/p>\n
a glass vase of old-fashioned pink roses on a<\/p>\n
soft cotton table-cloth, the color of blushing cheeks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Creamers like this had a mate but the open sugar bowl<\/p>\n
is lost.<\/p>\n
Reservations were never necessary<\/p>\n
even when times were tough, she served her 7<\/p>\n
children<\/p>\n
around the abundant table. A tolerant<\/p>\n
Mother, she filled this creamer with sweet\u00a0 milk \u00a0every<\/p>\n
day.<\/p>\n
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Patiently I touch the smooth brown glazed handle<\/p>\n
Ida\u2019s cream pitcher felt cool in my septuagenarian hand<\/p>\n
today. It spilled out the sound of her laughter<\/p>\n
caused me to cinch my fingers around it\u2019s girth<\/p>\n
Her pale eyes were an ice blue winter sky.<\/p>\n
Every time I hold her old cream pitcher it<\/p>\n
refreshes memories of fresh whipping cream.<\/p>\n
For\u00a0National Poetry Month, I will post a poem every day of April.<\/p>\n
My first poem is in memory of my Grandmother, Ida Matilda Kiesling Kirker.<\/p>\n
Wife of James Addison Kirker.\u00a0 Mother of 7 children.<\/p>\n
They lived in The Village of Wurtemburg, in rural western Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
I live in this village where my ancestors lived and I find inspiration for my art and writing in \u00a0the landscape and memories of this beautiful little place on earth.<\/p>\n
“Ida Matilda’s Cream Pitcher” will be published later this year in:<\/p>\n
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First Published:<\/p>\n