Memories of My Grandfather, Julius Mendelson

I Still Remember

I was too young when you died.
I still remember.
I was just learning from you.
I still remember.

You were my mentor.
I still remember.
You taught me about a good life.
I still remember.

Simple things that now show up
I still remember.
Being kind to people
I still remember.
Sharing what you have with others
I still remember.

Simple pleasures we enjoyed together
I still remember.
Your love of horses
I still remember.
How you would feed
The mounted police horses sugar cubes
I still remember.
Taking care of your horse and wagon
I still remember.

I stayed behind at the cemetery
After everyone had left, to say
"Goodbye. I love you, Grandpa."
I still remember.

-Larry Kal

A member of "Tea and Tales Writing Group," Larry Kal is writing poetry for the first time. His work will be published in an anthology to be released in 2010!
This class is part of the Programs for Older Adults, LAUSD, and is taught by instructor Fiera Mooney.

Happy Poetry Month!

I Never Told Anybody

I never told anybody
That I am the Venus of Willendorf;
Jo March in Little Women, eating an apple in the attic, reading;
Nancy Drew, smartly solving mysteries, with a dad who loves her;
Marilyn Monroe, abandoned, neglected, orphaned by a mother
still living;
George Sand, a writer, divorcee mother with lovers;
Sylvia Plath, cold, depressed, suicidal;
Francoise Dorleac, dead in a car accident, in the 60's;
Vigee Le Brun, artist to European aristocracy during the
French Revolution;
Queen Lilioukalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, exiled;
Sister Maria Theresa of Spain, who experienced the Interior
Castle of the Lord's
many mansions;
Kiss Me Kate, Shakespeare's shrew,
and all of Matisse's women.

I never said that I was any of them
but some who knew me knew,
sous entendue.

Francesca Riviere is a poet, ESL teacher, and proud member of the "Tea and Tales Writing Group," a class offered by North Hollywood's Program for Older Adults, and taught by writer-poet Fiera Mooney.