Tessa Calcitrai

The Castle of Memories

Cherry trees no longer, 

Now but a still pond, 

Or not so still that is,

At the arrival of the grandchildren, 

Shoes left by the door that never shuts, 

The one overworked and tired,

Like an officer on the job,

The kitchen,

Cooking and baking unremitting, 

Aroma of sugar and soup,

Sugar and soup served in family lines, 

All on the same plate,

Never to segregate the pie from the beans, 

At the wooden table we are seated, 

Always to know which sister,

Which sister was assigned which chair, 

Which chair rested each of the four girls,

In their teenage years, 

The home no castle, 

Rather a simple ranch,

More valuable than any castle,

For the events of the past are more relevant, 

More so than the modernity of today,

The bricks of the house bear no significance, 

Without the people who rested within them.