from Remember the Flowers
Winner (Poetry) of the 2021 Stone Soup Book Contest

When, at ten thirty you took toTurning the knob of the piano bench,Raising it to your height,And sat on the tattered black,On the wooden floor upstairs, I thought,A good day to playGoing on vacation.

From the cabinet top, I took downThe round blue hatbox trimmed with white ribbonsAnd painted ladies on the sideWatering potted flowersIn little brown straw sun hatsUnder the summer sky.Inside I packed ten velvet hats.I took the green one out and put it on.Someone’s something bought itOnce upon a timeAt an antique store.While you repeated HanonDownstairs,I packedThen lugged my box of hatsOnto a white Ikea chairAnd boarded mySteam trainBoundFor somewhere.

Remember the Flowers was released on September 1, 2022.You can order the book at Barnes & Noble or through our Amazon store: Amazon.com/stonesoup.