A Proper Present

Aunt Boots' children
knew her birth date
marked it red
on the calendar

but they had no idea
what present to give
on her ninetieth birthday

One son suggested
a cruise to the Bahamas
while it was winter
in Nebraska

A daughter reminded him
"Mama gets seasick looking at a full bathtub"

A great-grandson
and eight-year-old
country music freak
piped up
"I know what Grammy
would like better than
anything--
that new album to Jimmie Rodgers"

His father said in wonderment
"What a coup
Grandma had all Jimmie's original
records when we were kids
Don't know what happened to them"

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.