That’s my big sister Darlene, or should I say older sister. She is the brunette and I am the little blonde staring intently at my hand. I was about four years old and I was absolutely enamored with that little wristwatch my daddy gave me. I can still see its shiny golden band and its pretty glass face with the golden Roman numerals. Of course, it wasn’t real gold in the monetary sense, but to me it was pure gold of the highest value because my daddy had given it to me.
My big sister Darlene and I as all sisters since the dawn of time have had our disagreements, but she has and will always be my greatest advocate. I am hers, as well. She just celebrated a birthday-the age I have sworn to secrecy.
This is a poem that captures how I feel about my big sister, Darlene. Happy Birthday, big sister!
Sister, Can You Tell Me
I saw you standing there, could it have been just yesterday?
My big sister, waiting for me outside my first grade classroom.
You, an all-knowing second-grader dressed in a red plaid skirt, your silky black hair spilling down your back.
Wasn’t that just yesterday?
You saw me standing there, a young bride of twenty-two,
pink roses and ivory lace, naively believing in forever.
My big sister, you stood beside me at the altar, you squeezed my hand in yours,
and you let me go.
Wasn’t that just yesterday?
I saw you standing there, crying at Mama’s graveside.
My big sister, I reached over the years and clutched your delicate ivory hands as one who is drowning would do.
Wasn’t that just yesterday?
Sister, can you tell me when the hands of time spun around the clock, at what hour the winds changed?
Sister, can you tell me at what minute tiny lines crept under our eyes?
Can you tell me at what second our hair started to turn gray?
We were young just yesterday.
2019 Copyright Jenny W. Andrews
Jenny Grace's Poetry and Creative Writing Techniques 