Pumpa
Pumpa
had a pile of dirt
beside the porch
and yucca poking up
rudely
in his garden
he slashed trails
through wild cherries
and dug little wells
and big holes
to cover with bedsprings
Pumpa
kept the big oak
that fell
in the hurricane
of thirty eight
set a plank across
its sawed limbs
to make a store
selling rocks
and good dirt
he set a gas stove
in the yard
and told me
he would build
a house around it
so he put
a chair out there, too
Pumpa
made a swing
behind the porch
over lily of the valley
spiders wove in it
he told me
the big black rock
went all the way to China
and if I knocked on it
they would knock back
he made a golf course
of tunafish cans
and plastic tulips
Pumpa
roasted potatoes
in a plaid coffee can
outside the shed
and showed me mice
dried in their traps
roasted marshmallows
in the coal stove
baked brown sugar pies
in tiny pans
he made a whole room
outside
behind the shed
with real furniture
and enamel basins
and gave tours of it
Pumpa
had ladyslippers
and let us pick
as many as we wanted
he told long stories
set in the landscape
of the grimy painting
over his iron cot
until I fell asleep
When I am very old
I will be like Pumpa.
Pumpa
had a pile of dirt
beside the porch
and yucca poking up
rudely
in his garden
he slashed trails
through wild cherries
and dug little wells
and big holes
to cover with bedsprings
Pumpa
kept the big oak
that fell
in the hurricane
of thirty eight
set a plank across
its sawed limbs
to make a store
selling rocks
and good dirt
he set a gas stove
in the yard
and told me
he would build
a house around it
so he put
a chair out there, too
Pumpa
made a swing
behind the porch
over lily of the valley
spiders wove in it
he told me
the big black rock
went all the way to China
and if I knocked on it
they would knock back
he made a golf course
of tunafish cans
and plastic tulips
Pumpa
roasted potatoes
in a plaid coffee can
outside the shed
and showed me mice
dried in their traps
roasted marshmallows
in the coal stove
baked brown sugar pies
in tiny pans
he made a whole room
outside
behind the shed
with real furniture
and enamel basins
and gave tours of it
Pumpa
had ladyslippers
and let us pick
as many as we wanted
he told long stories
set in the landscape
of the grimy painting
over his iron cot
until I fell asleep
When I am very old
I will be like Pumpa.
