|
A Package Part II
by Maureen Glaude dripping from her swim in Lake Mazinaw
beneath the rosy granite at the Narrows
she negotiates the hot August sand
to meet him
the tall boy hiding behind the
evergreens
her feet freeze, trapping her in her stance
from reaching him
at intervals he looks at her
but makes no steps to advance
she'd wake up at this point
every time she had the dream
she knew the waiting boy was Josh
the one with whom she'd passed
her last day at the camp, last summer
the dream-memory returned to Anna Mills
more often lately; but why last night
after all her cramming for the
last grade nine Christmas exam?
her kid sister's scream
disrupted her haze
Anna, a package just came. For you!
The voice of that very culprit
who had stolen and lost Joshs note
from their exchange of postal addresses
her last link to him
for he lived in Toronto
she in Quebec, near the bridge to Ottawa.
No letter from him ever came
Anna meandered down the stairway
wondering why she still thought of
the boy from so long ago
and tried to psych herself up
for the afternoon's ordeal
she plunked the parcel in her lap
sitting alone by the lit fireside
but jumped up at the discovery
of the blue scrawled name
in the top corner
of the kraft paper, and screamed
"Josh Peters"
bringing back her sister
who was promply dismissed.
Anna wanted to be alone with this
as her hands settled from shaking
she gingerly opened the wrap, keeping
his return address intact
she dipped into an abundance of mauve tissue
a smile lit her face but
only blossomed in full when from deep within
the nest of paper, she found
a brown pine cone
she can reach him now
her feet moving like silk to
his place in the trees.
Josh at the Narrows,
fumbling with this
humble token from nature
fighting, all the while she talks
the paralysis of his shyness
on tiptoe she brushes his cheek with a kiss
then takes the pine cone from his hand
and tucks it in his knapsack
the Josh shed always failed to find
on her postal and internet searches
had sent her, this Christmas
all the aromas and aspirations
of their starting dream.
12/12/2003 Author's Note: a draft. for clarity, some passages would be in italics and color here, if I had use of those features on here, but I don't I guess.
Posted on 12/12/2003
Copyright © 2024 Maureen Glaude
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Agnes Eva on 12/12/03 at 06:43 PM oh what a fantastic continuation of the story. i love hearing it from her perspective (you could sense in the other story that she cared for him). and now she has his address, so we can imagine the beginnings of their romance!! again, good job tapping into teenage 'hopeful romantic' psyche |
| Posted by Nadia Gilbert Kent on 12/13/03 at 12:12 AM P1 and 2 both made me smile. |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 12/14/03 at 03:13 AM Ahhhh, the perspective from the girl's side! A very good sequel. Will there be a budding romance? To a ninth grade girl with such an inclination. Very possibly. And he did remember. Waiting for the sequel. Is this about puberty or something more? Intriguing story you've begun. |
| Posted by Dana E Brossard on 12/15/03 at 04:09 AM **smiles** Both Parts are wonderfully done =) A very enjoyable read |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 12/16/03 at 03:19 AM Rich reading and worthy continuation from Part I. |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 12/16/03 at 02:12 PM thank you Maureen for this sweet scented gift of pinecone. |
| Posted by Ulyss Rubey on 07/09/04 at 04:41 AM This is so profound. Sometimes the greatest and most remembered romances never happen. For it to develop further might somehow diminish it. But, maybe not- depends on Part III;-) |
| Posted by Vimal Rony on 07/31/04 at 10:45 PM Great follow up to the poem.I was expecting no less from u and u delivered as only u can. |
| Posted by Amanda L Marron on 11/10/05 at 07:06 PM This is a gorgeous story. I have not read the poem yet, and shall right now. |
|
