Across the Street at Number 12

25/02/2021 – Poem a Day Compilation


There’s an old lady across the road,

She lives there on her own.

Her girlfriend passed a few years ago.

They’d been together for twenty-seven years

Ever since she came out to her husband,

And I don’t know how that went down

But I feel like it would have taken guts

To be married for so long

And have kids together

Then decide you not only don’t want to be married

But you want to date people of the same sex!



She’s the sweetest old lady I know,

Almost like a grandma to me.

She’d get me Christmas presents

When I was a little kid

With immaculate wrapping

And bows tied with care

Along with a card written in cursive,

Faintly smelling of her perfume

And maybe a hint on home-made cookies.



Now that I’m an adult, she invites me over

For whiskey sours and platters of cheese,

And conversations about the meaning of life

That last into the wee, small hours,

And Sunday trips in the city

With high tea over-looking the harbour

Eating cucumber sandwiches and chocolates

Before window shopping for all the things

That we can’t afford but wish we could.



Her children live interstate

But they visit when they can –

Christmas,

Easter,

The occasional birthday –

And I know she misses them a lot

So, when they’re not around I visit her

And she tells me about her life,

Full of ups and downs and round abouts

And more love than I could imagine.



She comes from a big family

But all her siblings have now passed away.

She keeps their memories alive

With pictures hanging on the wall

And visiting their resting places

And having one-sided chats with them.

She says she enjoys her chats

As she sits by their graveside,

It being the only time she wins an argument

With any of her sisters.



We’re planning her outfit for Mardi Gras –

She wants it even more outrageous than last.

You wouldn’t think to look at her

As she goes about her daily life

In her pants suits and demure shirts

That when the parade rolls around

She’ll be out there covered in sequins

And adorned in feathers galore,

Rainbow garb from head to toe

And flags of every description.



She’s of the very strong opinion

That life is for the living

And we should take every opportunity

To celebrate our diversity.

She lived too long hiding her true self

And, though she loved her husband dearly,

He wasn’t who she was supposed to be with

And when she met Louise that day

She knew it was now or never.



I think her husband always knew

And he took it very well

Unlike some others in the neighbourhood

Who couldn’t keep their opinions to themselves.

First, he moved into the spare room

While he looked for a place of his own

And, then, when he eventually found something

It was just around the corner.



He still pops round to do the gardening

Or put up a picture hook

Even though he’s now remarried

With another family to look after.

They all seem to get along

And his new kids love the fact

They’ve had an extra set of parents

And older sisters with whom to share the love.



So, if you’re ever passing by this way

More often than not

You’ll find me hanging out across the road

My own kids playing in the yard

With Faye’s step grandkids,

Which she babysits every other Saturday,

As we sip on whiskey sours

And watch the world go by.

It’s a constant reminder

That family is what you make it

And blood may be thicker than water

But love is the tie that binds.