Watermelon Days

Grandma said
That from your head
A sprout will grow indeed
If you swallow a watermelon seed

Grandma said
The further you can spit
The further in life
That you will get

So we’d sit on the porch
Competing to see
What in life
We’d someday be

Out of my sister mouth
Seeds would fly
Over the trashcan
And through the sky

Big brothers always went a little farther
Maybe he would become a doctor or lawyer
Of the three, I tried the hardest
Mine would land somewhere between poet and artist

These are what Grandma called Watermelon Days:

Play fights with watermelon rinds
Damp clothes hanging on the line
Big brother climbing trees
Little sister enjoying the summer breeze
Butcher knives and Morton salt
The pretty pink dress that Mom just bought
Sticky fingers and skinned knees
Butterflies and bumblebees
Children running through open fields
Enjoying how good life really is

Grandma said
Our past is worth telling
Over a slice
Of juicy watermelon

Copyright 2007 by Tanaka. All rights reserved.