July/August 2018

  The chair by the avocado tree had turned a faded green from wear For years it sat untouched behind the orange-red sunsets Built for the old lady with the fishing hat who kept forgetting Its purpose was to help her remember To stay in the present of the ink-washed sand And it stayed there till the time of her grandson Sitting by the murky green water with his homework Reminding them of all the beautiful sunrises and afternoon checker games played And his days looking at the intriguing graphite numbers on bleached paper But before then he would wonder if his grandmother would ever be the same again If she would ever remember who he was without a lost look on her face One day Looking at the plants by the seaweed strewn about He took a nearby avocado seed and buried it into the sandy ground He began to take the wood from his backyard to build a chair Hoping it would help her remember He tended to them day by day From the mornings spent on his work To the afternoons sat with the wood Sanding and painting it as the tree grew And he worked right by the shore with the graphite numbers and the wood Making progress as time went on Eventually the chair sat next to the tree And one day the lady with the fishing hat sat in the chair with the tree And remembered the difference that was made Sara Chebili, 13Washington, D.C.