Amazing…I’m still on the birthday bandwagon!
My father’s birthday was the day after mine. I have a favorite memory when we celebrated together at Will Rogers State Park.
A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR DADDY AND ME
AT WILL ROGERS STATE PARK
UNDER THE EUCALYPTUS TREES,
NEAR THE SMELL-GOOD HIKING TRAIL
by April Halprin Wayland
Mama, with her crinkly smiling eyes made the cake
Daddy’s favorite: chocolate with butter cream in between
my favorite: lavender frosting
Everybody’s walking from the parking lot
across the grass to these red wooden tables
Uncle Art with his cane,
Auntie Cissy, waving a stuffed puppy and laughing with Mama’s eyes
Uncle Izzy pats Peanuts and Bingo as they lick lick lick
he is beaming with Mama’s eyes
Cousins running across the grass
blowing up balloons, eating carrots and chips
big hugging from big Uncle Raphael, Uncle Chuckie
big kissing from Aunts Sylvia, Francis, Polly
and Aunt Fanny (her hair reaches her fanny but she coils it in a bun)
After all the balloons are popped
all the cousins have chased the dogs round and round
after Uncle Davie has passed out all of his two dollar bills to all of the cousins
after we’ve stuffed ourselves silly with Aunt Sylvia’s chicken casserole
and Uncle Max’s homemade challah
Mama serves everyone a lavender slice on a pretty paper plate
Daddy and I each get a corner with mostly frosting
there’s chocolate in Uncle Avrum’s mustache
Then we are lying under the eucalyptus trees
all our tummies are full, full
all of us content
all of us with Mama’s crinkly smiling eyes
© 2010 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved
Please leave a comment on www.TeachingAuthors.com (You can leave your comment after any of our posts…it doesn’t matter if I’m posting or one of the five other authors is. Just scroll down to the first place you can comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts~)