Growing Up Dandelion


Grandma’s kitchen didn’t
have room for me.
There were no warm fuzzies,
honeyed memories, or even
a space at the table.

With her smothering, mothering
of my cousins I was an end of the line,
barely know your name, grandchild.

My arms never reached nor did my lips ask
for affection…Grandma didn’t have any urges
to spoil an apple outside the walls of her orchard.

Times were tough…I didn’t get a choice
to be angry or sad…I slipped into the slot
life made for me, and was taught my first
dandelion lesson of how to bloom in drought.

©Susie Clevenger 2019

Comments

  1. Oh my .... who in the world would not have loved and wanted you. Shameful and sad. I love you.

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  2. Susie, this is sooo sad. Please tell me this isn't true. It is rare for a grandmother to not dote on any grandchild that is close enough to visit. It gets harder with the greats, we have those. Some we hardly ever see because of divorce, remarriage, adoption, and the like. We have those. In fact my other grandparents moved away, Missouri and Oregon. These visits were rare.
    ..

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    Replies
    1. Just read Helen's last line. Susie, all us posting here at the Garden love you, me for sure.
      ..

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  3. Learning to bloom in drought. Thankfully some of us are tenacious enough to do that. You bloom very brightly in OUR garden, Susie.

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  4. Oh, this is more than memory, but also social commentary about childhood and how very difficult it is in reality.

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  5. This is reality for many people. It’s sad and I’m very sorry she wasn’t able to reach out. Your poem made me think that life always have a lesson to share. It’s heart wrenching when you have to learn this lesson at such a young age.
    And you’re blooming now!

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  6. I wonder if you ever heard about dandelion children... thriving also under the worst conditions... to be forgotten like that has to be very hard.

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  7. This poem just builds! The third and fourth are amazing stanzas. Shoot the whole poem is a tug at my heart... Why is it sad poems can be just so good!

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