Grammy and the Books

Grandma and the Books

My Grammy was a little bit
of flesh squeezed into a
housedress and a colorful apron.
I didn't know about rich or poor.
Grammy didn't give a fig about rich or poor.
She used to say,
Sherry, darlin' just do what it takes.

For some pin money
Grammy mended books
for the Kalispell School District.
Oh, the days we spent together.
A big, yellow truck would deliver
the schoolbooks on a hot summer day.

We had brushes and pots of glue,
scotch tape and erasers
pink as cat's tongues.
I was only five, but Grammy treated
me like a workmate, not a child.
She taught to repair books - and to love them.

I learned where Ireland sat - and Wales.
There were hungry bumblebees that
buzzed over the glue pots, and I learned
that day about Kazakamis and war.
To this day I cherish books.