Sue C. Boynton*

An Ode to Me
By Sue C. Boynton

I’ve wanted a clothesline for a
long, long time—a dryer is fine,
     but I couldn’t see my sheets
     whip in the wind in the     
sunshine of Spring, so…
I got me a clothesline for my
birthday to me—because I am eighty!

I’ve longed for some horse-radish
to go with boiled tongue, so I
     found me a man to dig up the roots
     and I pared them and ground them,
     shed buckets of tears
     like in many past years
before I was eighty.

I’ll pick dandelion greens to put
on my table because I’m still able,
this year that I’m eighty,
     to gather “a mess”
     as Grandmother’d say.
     It will stir up my liver—
     poor thing—will it ever
this Spring I am eighty.

So a toast to my clothesline, to my
horse-radish batch, to dandelion greens,
that delectable dish.
And I leave you my wish that through
     all of your years
     you too may find pleasure
     in plain simple things
that are ours in great measure.

*To read more about Sue C. Boynton, click on the Sue Boynton link near the top of the page.