POETRY ~ BY CAROLYN BERTRAM-ARNOLD
Sunday Offering
with copper-colored curls silently observed every movement as the deacon passed around the offering basket to each individual member. At the end of the blessing, with her head bowed like the others, she added her "Amen" to their chorus. After the deacon handed over the money to the treasurer for counting and safekeeping, the tiny girl crept up to the altar and retrieved the empty basket. The preacher proceeded with his sermon about the generosity of the widow who gave her all. And the copper-haired angel collected $18 for herself.
while we cousins played in the yard, Granny brought out the beat-up metal dishpan with two Sugar Baby watermelons in it. She sat down in the lime green aluminum swing and carefully, yet deliberately, split the melons down the middle with a giant butcher knife. We abruptly stopped our game of tag and gathered in a semi-circle around her, nudging each other, competing for the first slice. One small cousin insisted Granny remove the seeds, which she did with quick flicks of the knife tip. We stuck out our tongues and called him a baby. We preferred to spit seeds at the chickens that had gathered for the feast. The pink sweet juice ran in rivulets down our dusty chins and arms, making curvy road maps on our skin. When Granny threw her cud of Red Coon tobacco into the yard, a poor confused hen mistook it for a watermelon seed. The chicken took one peck and squawked away, leaving us to slurp up every morsel of melon. By the time Granny finished the last slice, her face and arms looked almost like ours. And we were all full until suppertime. ["Eating Watermelon With Granny" won an honorable mention certificate in a Kentucky State Poetry Society contest in 2004.] |
Carolyn Bertram-Arnold has published poetry, short stories and personal essays in regional and national magazines and anthologies, including Appalachian Heritage and Writer's Journal. Her most recent publication in the Appalachian Women's Journal appeared in their newsletter and web site, and the same poem was in the 2006 anthology Kentucky Kaleidoscope, published by London Writers' Group. Her 10-minute play, "Only a Dress" (written during the Kentucky Women's Playwright Seminar), will be performed at the Berea Quilt Festival in August, 2007. She lives with her husband/soul mate Jack, her biggest fan and supporter.
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