Silver Anniversary

Cut glass, silver and fine linen stowed away unseen
in my mother’s attic, remnant of the queen
she knew as a mother. From it I extract
a latent innuendo that I construe as fact
that my mother finds within her something of the same—
some hidden possibility she, too is a grand dame

who might one day need niceties like crystal goblets and
napkins hand-embroidered by a genteel hand.
I hear the screen door closing in the kitchen down below,
close the trunk lid. Swiftly down the attic stairs I go.
But when I greet my mother, though I’m sure my manner’s normal,
I start to plan an anniversary dinner that’s more formal

than their usual getaway for movie and a meal
at a local diner that is hardly a big deal.
I’ll have dad distract mom with some ordinary chore,
then cook a special dinner, buy flowers and what’s more,
resurrect my grandma’s china, silver, linens and her glass
and show my mom that I for one recognize her class!

Prompt words today are stow, extract, screen, latent,glass linen, attic. Image. by Jamie Coupaud on Unsplash.