I Remember When... (Mama Nostalgia)

I Remember when...
I was barely 4.
And mama was on the phone a lot
by the window sill
with me playing on
the living room floor;
her talking to neighbors,
my aunties and uncles
bout daily rigormarole/gossip...
how daddy shoulda been around more
and when he went out in the morn
for groceries, not coming in till
ten at night
when the store was just around the corner... :-<

5 Years later...

I remember when...
I was about 9.
Used to take the bus with mama.
Running errands and visiting family friends around town;
while riding,
her with knitting needle and yawn...
when it came to crocheting...
no one could put it down better!!

3 Years later...

I remember when...
I was bout 12.
While playing B-ball with a friend after school
one afternoon in Jr. High,
outside on the court till it got dark.
Wasn't till he went home
I realized my 1/2 fair bus pass...
didn't have the other half for the bus.
So it got colder.
So cold, had to call mama
to come get me because
the piss was being frozen out of me.

1 Year later...

I remember when...
at 13 y/o, there was a time I wouldn't eat much.
Had a reverse tape worm appetite,
ribs were elbowing my stomach in a hunger fit...
But you knew what was to come from this neglect.
Side effect, I could barely walk around.
You brought me to the nearest ER
to get treated for severe dehydration...
giving me a wake up call just couldn't ignore;
And lesson learned, you saved me.

As I contined to grow,
older and wiser,
so did you.
Heeded your iodine advice and peroxide warnings;
preventing mental and emotional wounds you saw coming miles away.
Got my GED off the strength you believed in me
to be a better man in the making.

My point, for going down this lane of unlocked memories...
is to give thanks and show, no,
scrape the iceberg of cold winter nights(No HEAT),
sleeping on couch cushions as pillows, only peanut butter and jelly,
a loaf of bread to eat,
broke fridge but never let me go hungry love in return!

This piece is the peace in my heart!
With your caribbean blood in my veins keeping it pumping.
The footprints of your legacy in the flesh
that will carry this mama nostalgia to your future decendants;
Discipline them with the aura of your tongue!
I shall never forget, the times you've still say,
"Life ain't a bell of roses"
I understand that better now a days as a man.
Because if it was...
You would be the Mother nature of all gardens,
to learn, grow from...
THIS society needs!

© ”Honest Abe” Abraham Benjamin (Copyright 2012)