SBJ Studio

Ancient Auntie
Blue eyes I've never meet, and knew,
an ancient auntie perhaps – kinder than
my mother – said: "you look like an actor." 

Mother, hellbent on filling my
life with her story, said: 
"my hair was wasted on a man."

My distant auntie goes on:
"You've got the stare of an empty parking lot filled with 
upturned push pins, just like a matinee idol from New Brunswick."

I tell her: "I've never been to New Brunswick." 
So we plan a trip by train, to feel

the clanking metal wheels on metal tracks
getting hundreds of miles to the gallon. 

I bring my family photos for entrainment. We’re
lost for hours, until we come across a young 
photo of my mother, she looks just like my traveling 
companion on a good day. 

I close the book and gently put it into her lap.
I walk hurriedly to a door and jump from the train.

© SB Joy, 2022