Grandma's House
by
David Pekrul
copyright 02-24-2005
Age Rating: 7 to 127
Dark rain-slicked streets, and trolley wires glistening wet.
traffic rushing by, spraying water as they pass.
this is the long ride home from Grandma's house.
The boarding house she owned was big and foreboding,
with small suites that smelled of vinegar and turpentine.
I remember the long hallway with the umbrella tree,
and the paisley wallpaper, gaudy, large but with the
feeling of belonging.
the silver teapot and the thin china plates,
the rotating lamp that looked like a forest fire,
the outside window ledges covered in coal dust,
the octopus-like furnace in the basement.
Just down the street, the television store
where I saw my first T.V,
my face pressed against the window
to catch a glimpse of fuzzy, out-of-focus images of
cowboys and Donald Duck.
And that special feeling of comfort and love that only a trip
to Grandma's house can bring.
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
Again David, your gift for details in your descriptions is just wonderful..., not just tiny suites, but suites that smelled of "vinegar and turpentine" and not just paisley wallpaper, but "gaudy" paisley wallpaper, "The rotating lamp that looked like a forest fire", and especially, "The outside window ledges covered in coal dust,
The octopus-like furnace in the basement." I walked down that rainy street (nice detail in first verse also,) and right into your grandmother's house with you...This is one of your best...Detailed imagery, stayed with subject, good rhythm and flow to the sentences, and you don't really even need the last line...everything you wrote before it shouts with the love and comfort you felt at Grandma's house, the last line is redundant. Another one of your best.
I, too, have fond memories of my past and of Grandma's house. (I've written a couple stories about my grandmother that I would love to know your thoughts on.)
Though I'm not your age, I remember many of the things you wrote about and look around my house today with a smile at all the changes. What will the world be like in twenty years when my teenager is grown and remembering past? Will he think of the Play Station 2 and the X Box and the Game Boy the way I think of Atari, Pong, and On TV? Will he look at a Caravan the way I look at Chevy Nova's? *sigh* And what will replace all these "Gadgets" we've worked so hard to obtain? Will I save them all so he can sell them on Ebay? I really liked this work of yours. Keep up the good work.
I am sorry that our grandchildren will never know the things that we grew up with. Now even the places I went as a child are not the same. Grandma's house will always be filled with love, but it won't be like "The Good Old Days". Thank you, David. You can paint a fine picture with words. Anthony
Welcome !
