Excerpt from "Mama Thompson and Peanut" by Andre Keitt
"They're back!" Mama Thompson said as she got up as fast as she could and grabbed the firecrackers she had kept hidden underneath her china cabinet. Squeezing quietly out of the back door, she reached up and unscrewed the bulb that lit the back porch. The entire backyard was blanketed in darkness. Then she picked up the floor mop and held it out like she was holding a gun.
She heard the boys in the garden whispering,"there goes that old lady," she heard one of them say. "She got a gun," another boy whispered. Just then Mama Thompson took out some matches and lit the firecrackers, and quickly threw them over the trees in the garden. When the boys heard the popping, they screamed, "and she can shoot that thing too, run!" ©
"The Future" by Regina Dyton
When I was a girl and used to think of killing myself, I didn't know yet
I didn't know you, hadn't seen or even envisioned you, much less your children and their children's children.
But now I know you and I'm so glad I didn't kill myself or die of cancer
How foolish I was, I thought I knew so much yet I had never even looked into a mirror and imagined my hair grey. Lord knows I didn't know of healing or redemption
Now I look at my grandchildren and imagine them old and as grandparents and smile
I feel the sun on my skin and think of how we go on and on. . ..lf we don't stop
And how each of us is burning planet
And that clouds do eventually blow by
Life is a long book, yet we read a few chapters and think we know the end
When you feel like giving up,
Think of preparing for grandparenthood, being the center of your family,
Carving the turkey for your son's son
Having him look up at you like you are the Statue of Liberty Holding up the family flame.
I love you son.
