Many of the students' poems in my course, Humanities, Aging, & Family Living, focus on their relationships with a grandparent. A grandparent is often a first "positive" experience with aging for an individual. A grandparent is sometimes the first "loss" experienced by an individual. The poems below suggest a variety of responses to grandparents.

Benches by the grass,

Grandma sitting there

Waiting

To take me upstairs

So tiny, my Grandma,

She comes up to my chin

The sweetness of sugar cubes,

The smell of hot tea

This I remember.

Folds of skin around

Quiet sparkling eyes,

So thin.

Afraid to hug her

She's disappearing.

Telling her I'll be back soon.

Promises.

I never told anyone about these feelings and memories I had of my grandmother. She spoke to me in Yiddish. I understood her, but I couldn't speak back to her in Yiddish. I wish I could have. These are my memories of her.

Crunch!!
The dripping dill pickle says.

"I think it will be red today," her pruned lips explain.

"I bet it will be green," her smooth pink lips exclaim.

As we gaze out upon the railroad tracks
time
stands till
as if to mark itself,
a polaroid
for the future.

We stand anxiously awaiting the caboose,
with juice quenching our lips.
We can never eat enough of our
favorites.

Then,
a flash
of red goes by. . .

"I bet ya it'll be blue tomorrow."

GRANDMA

How it must look through your
eyes, Grandma

Worlds spinning fast, global warming,
world-wide-webs, million-dollar sport stars.
How it must look through your eyes, Grandma.

Abuse-riddled children, gun-toting teenagers,
drugs ending lives,
children ignoring parents,
How it must feel through your
bones, Grandma.

Cold gets colder, aches no longer heal,
Arthritis the only constant.
So different for this generation and the next--
How hard it must be to
see and feel what you do, Grandma

THE CASKET

Open

my Grandfather

his loving smile

Perfect

Closed

a red Rose

its timeless smell

Perfect

GRANDFATHER'S SONG

gathered around the piano

Grandfather plays a song

family sings

hearts are merry

gathered around the casket

Grandfather sleeps

Family weeps

Hearts are filled with Grandfather's Song

Other examples of student poetry: