Bad Manners
spit-spit-spit
what gauche manners
in the arboretum
a frizzled pod lifts
on a prickled stem
with a dried blossom nose
pelting brown seeds
at a marble wall 20 feet away
i tell my mother
about the amazing spitter
she smiles and leads me
out of the backyard
we cross Phillips Road
take a left on the field path
walk in 1,000 feet
and greet another mediterranean escapee
your name suits you, squirting cucumber
***
Frugal Nana
nana collects useful things
The Great Depression teaches her to save
our family might need it someday, she says
she feeds table scraps to chickens and turkeys
saves string, rubber bands, paper, buttons
darns and weaves holes in socks
mends torn pants and shirts
replaces missing buttons
folds and stores old clothes on a cellar shelf
she cuts off a big blue button from an old coat,
threads the button on a string loop, makes it sing
she hands me the old Ward's catalog and scissors
i cut out paper dolls, make them clothes
nana hooks a rag rug from strips of old fabric
in kindergarten, i nap on the fish rug she makes
frugal nana has magic fingers
https://www.verse-virtual.org/2026/February/bruck-ingrid-2026-february.asp?p=6&n=8
Date Published: February 1, 2026