"Grandma Ceitha" and "I Am Not My Father's Son"
by Michael Grover



Grandma Ceitha

When I was born
Grandma Ceitha lived in Green Acres, Florida
With my Papa
She was a large southern woman
Born in South Carolina
Being a southern woman
She cooked a lot
Her kitchen was always full
Of steam & the sound of water boiling
Rice, fresh snapped green beans, corn on the cob,
Black eyed peas,
Smell of fresh lemon pound cake baking
I do the cooking in the house
I still think of her
Every time I hear water boiling

My parents & I stayed with them
As they built the house I grew up in
I say the house I grew up in
Because I barely remember the house in West Palm Beach
Or my grandparents house in Green Acres
My Papa was a carpenter like Jesus
My father an electrician
They built that house with their own hands
Saturday night was date night for my parents
Grandma Ceitha & I would stay up watching Creature Feature
Eating bananas till our stomachs hurt

I remember when she died
She had tubes in her throat
& an oxygen mask
It was obvious, the end was near
I walked into her hospital room
With a Mountain Dew
She went crazy, jonesing for caffeine
She was grabbing for the bottle
I didn't care, she was dying, I handed it to her
She tried to force it through the oxygen mask
With no success
She handed it back with a beaten look on her face




I Am Not My Father's Son

One day you just wake up
& it's too late
To be what you meant to be
Life full of anger
                   regret
Fueled by alcohol & drugs
Anything to forget

I hold no rage
It has eaten its way out of me
It will die with me
This cycle will stop
Both of us live alone
Even with someone
But believe this
I am not my father's son