16 September 2012
Have you ever asked your mum Your dad, your grandparents About the stories they hold, And the tales they remember. The ones of a life before You were ever even thought of Let alone existed. Have you listened to things untold?
Have you ever sat down and heard The story of your mother Flying the kite on summer days? The wind carrying the rainbow canopies Far above those emerald hills That you can only faintly picture, A photograph buried deep in your memory That must be dug up - dusted - To ever be seen again. But your mother, she remembers it As if it were yesterday, Fresh as the mangoes she tasted Plucked from the tree that still stands, Now ancient against the western wind. Those sunlight yellow flavours, That you only know the scent of.
What about your father, can't you read the lines on his smiling face? The hint of youth eternally etched, Around his eyes, across his mouth. Did he ever tell you about that time When he broke his own father's - your grandfather's - car That glinting automobile, The finest in the town... Sending the engine up in smoke? Has he told you about Those rocky mountain climbs, To find wild birds perched on their giant nests, Feeding their young Overlooking rivers of ultramarine And banks of sandy gray, tinged with the fading rays of sun To a perfect tangerine.
And your grandparents, Grand indeed was their love story A romance that pulsed During the years of war When fear had burned young lovers' hearts, And made their passion all the stronger. Your grandpa, young, successful Dressed in a sky blue shirt, Hair slicked back with perfection Your grandma from the country Naive, innocent, free, her dress billowing softly By that busy marketplace, Filled with faces too familiar Faces she'd grown up knowing, A crowd she knew too well, Except that stranger in the corner... Do you know how your grandparents met?
Do you hear about those stories? A different time you never knew, The place you thought you understood And the people you grew up with Have you ever thought about it? How everything came to be? The lives that came before you Your family history.
Before You • Opuss № I