Straddling Time

This memory.
Old pantry shelves, stacked with cans,
Boxes of crackers, graham and saltine
Clean pitcher, upside down
Cups and saucers
Bright red and white checkered
Tablecloths, folded neatly
Stacked
Breathe in the old, and
Recall the past
Grandma and Grandpa's restaurant
Green bottle of 7Up on
The table before me
Grandma's homemade doughnuts,
Plain, crunchy, soft inside
Melt in my mouth, warm
Candy under glass:
Charleston Chew, Baby Ruth,
Chuckles, Bottle Caps
Necco Wafers
Pots and pans and kitchen
Smells, walking through
To the door down
Landing before steps
This is what the old pantry
Brings back; not unpleasant
Smell of old, of wooden shelves
And stairs, and the dark
Unknown of yesterdays lives
Old buildings, old memories,
Old family ties, recalled
When just for a moment, the
Veil between now and then
Shimmers, and I straddle
The boundaries of time

(c) 25 November 2014
by Suzy Jacobson Cherry