The Race

Patricia Ethelwyn Lang

My grandmother could walk faster
than anyone I knew

she made her noodles
by hand
and whipped up yorkshire pudding
lighter than air

I sat next to her chair
as she told me stories of her youth

dressed up in oriental costume
I served food at the chinese luncheons
she prepared for the women of the church

my grandmother could walk faster
than anyone I know

I saw her as short & stout
in her youth she had the neck of a Grecian Goddess
was a fan of Hans Holzer
and Bishop Pike

was she really involved in pagan dances
around the turn of the century?

She could have been a medium;
she did read palms

and left me gasping
for breath

as she walked several yards ahead of me
up the sidewalk.