MAHOGANY CHINA
My grandmother tells me
About her first love
Johnny Hansen was his name
She'll always remember
A warm autumn day
She was fifteen
Or almost fifteen
Had a mare named Patches
And she and Johnny went riding together
Down along the Chetco River
Low and mossy before the rains.
She can still taste the fried chicken
She made for their picnic
And how worried she was
Her lips would be all greasy
If he wanted to kiss her.
Tells me this as she polishes
The mahogany china closet
Over and over
Five minutes
The same spot
Till it shines.
— Jim Dodge
from Rain on the River, Grove Press
The directing of a picture involves coming out of your individual loneliness and taking a controlling part in putting together a small world. A picture is made. You put a frame around it and move on.
~ John Huston
Love/Life Poems
