Time Travel with Ruth
More than forty years since we first met
almost thirty years since we last met
now tucked into a corner table
way in the back of the restaurant
at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
which we willfully ignore
talking, talking, talking
catching up –
a bit about the men we met and married
nothing about the men we met and didn’t
a bit of what we once believed career meant
nothing of what the job turned out to be
a smidgeon about the children
but more of labor
no longer a nightmare story, now full of laughs
but mostly we talk of the times we shared together.
Weren’t we unhappy that first year of college!
And what was the first name of our landlord’s wife –
the one we had to make the check out to –
Priscilla, or Cinderella?
Did the commune upstairs
live on more than one floor?
Remember the break-in, or, wait –
weren’t there two?
And why did we move out of 76 Birch?
Remember that plumber who warned us, get out?
What kind of car did your boyfriend have,
Cadillac or Chevy?
And that guy with his yearbook picture nude,
kittens in his lap –
what was his name?
So many memories make us both laugh,
as if we never went our separate ways!
And isn’t it amazing we look so much the same as we did then?
But here’s the shocker:
the photo we asked the waitress to take
turns out to feature two beaming
tastefully attired women, appearing –
how shall I say it –
somewhat mature!
Some jokester played a prank on us, I’m sure.
You and I are ageless.
~ Kate Lydon
Cinderella Eagleton was our landlord's wife: the one who would smack a yardstick on the clapboards of the house and yell, "CATS! BOYS!" After which the boyfriends would promptly grab the cats and jump into the closets and Voila! No Cats, no Boys!
ReplyDeleteWe moved out of 76 Birch because our upstairs neighbors moved out and Cinderella turned off the heat--the pipes burst during finals week of senior year just before Christmas, and all our furniture was out in the snow, replete with cats in their favorite chairs.