My Mum, I was the only one who called her that.
I thought she was all seeing, all knowing.
As kids we could get into a bit of trouble,
suddenly her voice would boom out of the kitchen,
my brothers and I would stop,
look at each other,
our mouths in the sign of oh, oh.
In the winter we would get carried away
building forts and tents in the living room,
giggling and fighting over sheets, chairs, books etc...
Her tone told us we better get busy cleaning up.
We always wondered
how she could tell what we were doing.
Years later,
I was sitting chatting with her in the kitchen,
I looked at the picture,
that had been there for as long as I can remember,
she looked up at the picture and smiled.
In it she and I saw the reflection of my children,
her grandchildren building a fort.
Finally I knew her secret.