Those Magical Days--By Charlene McCutcheon--United States

Those Magical Days

Dear Grandma made many treats on her old pot-bellied,
black stove, standing in the center of her quaint kitchen.
She was so kind and loving to me, a curious little child,
who delighted in observing what she could conjure up.
Carefully she stoked the stove with wood Grandpa split.
I watched expectantly as she mixed with a fork, a little
flour and water in a pan and sat it on the searing stove.
Stirring constantly it began to bubble, boil then thicken.
Grandma promised paste to an anxiously awaiting child.
"Get the old catalogs on the shelf over there Charlene.
You can cut out paper dolls; a mother, father and baby
brother, then paste them in that little scrap book I made."
With blunt nosed scissors, old catalogs and tied papers,
obliviously, I whiled away the day at her kitchen table.
Grandma, creating a miraculous concoction just for me
on her old stove so I could paste cut outs, was pure love.

Charlene McCutcheon is a 73 year old, wife, mother of seven, grandmother of thirty and great-grandmother of 14. She has just discovered her voice through poetry within the last few years. Her former ways of expression have been through the media of arts and crafts. Her desire to share herself with others for their benefit has been the motivating factor in all her endeavors. She loves life, work, play and most of all people.