The First Time

I remember the first time

that i saw him sitting

in the corner couch

twitching his thick brow,

forcing an uneasy smile

at every other person 

walking through the door

and then making a paused

conversation with the old man

crouched beside him.

The hall was filled with smiling

strangers who made funny noises

with their bare mouths

while kneeling to pinch

my cheeks or fluffing

my ribboned hair.

My feet barely touched ground

as i twirled in my vanilla hued

dress and became dizzy. 

But even as I spun, i saw 

his eyes follow me as i hid 

behind the periwinkle flowered 

muskoka* chair in the patio,

peeping in once in a while.

Pulling me out from behind it 

my grandmother whispered,

"Go say hello."

His large date coloured hands

held the grandest box id ever seen,

encased in powder blue paper-
dancing snowmen and candy canes.

'Do you know who i am? Your Papa..'

I looked at his bulky leather shoes

his tilted grey barret that shadowed

his large brown eyes, and glasses

with rims thick as bricks;
I said with a hint of a frown,

'I don't think so. You don't 

even look like me.' 

*Muskoka Chair is a type of chair used outdoors. The original Muskoka chair was made with eleven pieces of wood, cut from a single board. 

First published in Songbook Circa, November 2011.