Author Archives: Hilary Clark

Any Color’s All Right As Long As It’s Purple (for Neska)

In a purple dress and a
Fabulous hat
Grandma gave kisses with
Pursed lips, soft as
Feather pillows. Every
Memory is sweet
Like the sugar
She sprinkled on

Purple plum tomatoes.
Grandpa called her
Sweetheart, his
Honey girl, in love
Letters sent from
San Salvador, rich with

Purple prose.
Grandma licked her
Finger to smooth my
Eyebrows and called me
Pet. She called all of us
Her pet.

 
© Hilary Clark ~ 5/29/15
See the quilt here.

Any Color’s All Right As Long As It’s Green (for Lucille)

Nonie doted on her two
Grandchildren
With weekly deliveries
Of glazed donuts extra
Sweetened with hugs.
 
She can’t stay long, she said.
 
We went camping at the
Hot springs, staying
Close while she hooked
Up primitive utilities in
Grandiose
Clip on earrings and kneepads.
 
Eucalyptus smells like grandparenting.
 
Tiny children in the back
Seat, driven by a tiny
Grandmother
In a boat of a car
Towing a silver
Bullet RV.
 
Grandpa met us there.
 
Her home’s dance floor was
Green carpet, where we
Spun to accordion whines, heavy
Foot on the organ pedal and
Marching saints on a baby
Grand.
 
I have her hands.
 
 
© Hilary Clark ~ 3/13/15
See the quilt here.

Sunburst

In the old days sailors
Sailed their ships by the stars
And a Mariner’s Compass
Pointing the prow to points
North south east west.
Many went west, found the
New World, and wished they had
Found the Fountain of Youth.
Instead, they grew old
Watching the sunburst
In the eastern sky.

© Hilary Clark, 12/26/14

See the quilt here.