Thinking of My Aunt

                                               Watching      collage  artist: Ellouise Schoettler  circa 1998
           

Carson McCullers

Ellouise Schoettler

Carson McCullers is passing by

She lived in a boarding house down the street

Every day she walked up to get some kerosene

For her lamps.

She carried it home in a glass bottle.

Carson McCullers is passing by

My aunt ran to the upstairs window and peered out from behind the curtain

To watch the woman walking by

Its Carson McCullers 

She’s a writer

I knew by the sacred tone of her voice that was important

She’s a writer

She puts words on paper and people read them

She’s a writer

Carson McCullers is passing by

My aunt never wrote

She paid me 25 cents if I would write something

No matter how bad

Be a writer

My aunt never wrote

But she could talk

Today I am a talker.

And a writer

Thanks to Carson McCullers passing by.