Lunch
When Grandma was a girl
she sometimes walked home from school for lunch.
She remembers grilled cheese and tomato soup,
kidney beans and cheese on toast,
peanut butter and honey sandwiches.
Now that school is in my house,
I eat lunch at home every day.
I like to eat the same thing I did at school --
pretzels and a cheese stick, veggies and a fruit.
Keeping lunch the same helps me remember the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was loud and messy.
I traded pretzels for bites of sushi or mini Oreos.
After lunch was recess. I miss recess --
the swings, the big toy, even the muddy soccer field.
I even miss indoor recess.
Sitting on my porch
eating my not-a-school-lunch
at home-is-now-school,
I close my eyes in the sun, listen to the birds,
and remember everything I miss about school.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020
My mom was just sharing a story like this with us about how she would walk home for lunch. I appreciate the juxtaposition in this poem.
ReplyDeleteI miss so much about school, but the cafeteria is not one of them. Ha! Love your poem, though.
ReplyDeleteI eat my school lunch at home too. Half a turkey sandwich. Veggies. Skinny pop. Diet coke. I miss school. The cafeteria. Recess. All of it.
ReplyDeleteLove the wistfulness in your poem. Remembering long past and the more recent past.
ReplyDelete