Today, I’m pleased to have Lynda McKinney Lambert as a guest. She’s the author of Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage (Kota Press, 2003) and Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems. (DLD Books, 2017) She’s also an artist and teacher who suddenly lost her eyesight ten years ago. You can read reviews of Walking by Inner Vision on my blog and on the Vision Aware site. Here’s one of her poems, which you can also read on her blog. It’s about her grandmother’s cream pitcher, a photo of which is below.
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Ida Matilda’s Cream Pitcher
by Lynda McKinney Lambert, 2017
I loved to spend endless, languid
days at Grandma’s house, sitting
around her plentiful kitchen table. Ida
Matilda’s raisin-filled cookies, sprinkled with
granulated sugar,
apple pies and yeast breads served hot from her oven
tart cherry desserts and homemade blackberry jam.
I poured heavy cream this morning, from her
old ivory creamer, a
little piece of McCoy pottery, circa 1940, Art
Deco, with faded daisies and pale green
leaves, beside
a glass vase of old-fashioned pink roses on a
soft cotton table-cloth, the color of Ida’s blushing cheeks.
Creamers like this had a mate but the open sugar
bowl, now lost.
Reservations were never necessary
even when times were tough, she served her
husband and 7 children
around the abundant table. A tolerant
Mother, she filled her creamer with sweet
milk every day.
Patiently I touch the smooth brown glazed
handle
Ida’s cream pitcher felt cool in my
septuagenarian hand
today. It spilled out the sound of her laughter
caused me to cinch my fingers around its girth
her pale eyes were the ice blue winter sky.
Every time I hold her cream pitcher it
reveals memories of refreshing new cream.
***
The picture to the left is of Lynda’s grandmother with other family members. Now click below to hear me read the poem.
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Pictured above, Lynda stands next to a bouquet of flowers. You can read more of her work on her blog. Here’s a link to where you can learn more about Walking by Inner Vision and order the book.
***
Author Abbie Johnson Taylor
How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
That’s Life: New and Selected Poems
My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds
Click to hear an audio trailer.
Thank you, Abbie, for honoring me with this beautiful post today.
It was so much fun for me to hear you read my poem. I heard it with new ears!
Your blog is fantastic. Lynda
You’re welcome, Lynda. Your poem reminded me of one I wrote about my grandmother which I think posted here a couple of years ago. Maybe next week, I’ll stick with the grandmother theme and re-blog it.
Reblogged this on SCANdalous – Recollections and commented:
Enjoy this guest blog that appeared today on Abbie’s Corner of the World. Thank you, Abbie, for reading my poem for the blogging world to enjoy, too.
I truly appreciate this beautiful blog and am so glad to share it here on SCANdalous-Recollections today.
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