Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ACQUISITION by CLARA HYDE

First Line: GRANDMOTHER COUNTED LINENS
Last Line: WHO NEVER THOUGHT IT MATTERED?
Subject(s): GRANDPARENTS; GRANDMOTHERS; GRANDFATHERS; GREAT GRANDFATHERS; GREAT GRANDMOTHERS;

Grandmother counted linens,
Laundered white as snow,
Counted all the silver
And placed it in a row.
Let a piece be missing,
She would know.

I never counted silver --
Pantries were to me
Prison cells for chattel
And drudgery.

Grandmother now is sleeping,
All her treasure scattered;
I possess the teaspoons
Old and frail and battered;
Why do I count them
Who never thought it mattered?



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