When Gramps Got Old, He

could bake in the sun, his shirt open, unembarrassed by his stomach scar from cancer,
could play solitaire in the slats of sunshine at the dining room table, 
could eat fried chicken (one wing), strawberries, and pickled beets,
could help Grandma, though the dishes he washed had to be washed again and the container
        he kept filled with frozen orange juice fermented and fizzed,
could read the newspaper and listen to the news, 
could button his stained maroon sweater, mostly,
could shuffle along the sidewalk in his black shoes,
could answer the phone and talk, briefly,
could be glad to see you,
could break your heart.

Orval Lund is a retired English professor who lives in Winona.  His publications include two chapbooks from DacotahTerritory--Take Paradise (1989), Ordinary Days (1996)--and the Minnesota Voices winner, Casting Lines (New Rivers Press, 1999).  Recently he has published in Red Weather, From Blue Herons to White Cranes (A bilingual chapbook), Poets Against the War, and The Plum Ruby Review.  He keeps a blog devoted to politics and the arts at http://orvstuff.messagemonster.com/