Geezer
Geezer
May 24, 2020

Great Aunt Kitty...[East MainSt story]

Great Aunt Kitty was a flapper
The twenties were a blast
Short skirts and beads were the fashion
The mini dresses of the past

Charleston dances and jitterbugs
Were all the latest rage
There was a ban on alcohol
Take a lead from the Temperence page

Aunt Kit drove a wood-frame sport car
She danced in many a hall
There was no drinking in a regular bar
Speakeasy hid behind a wall

She spent the last few years of her life
Mourning her husband Bill
He bought a parrot he gave to his wife
When they lived up on the hill

She played solitaire long day after day
Drank her Schmidt's, played the radio
Smoked Camels in a chain, as they say
Never said much; just yes or no

She taught me gin and poker good
And she smiled a little then
She said she played hard as she could
I think she spoke of way back when

She's gone on, many years ago
The parrot and grandma Mabel too
I loved those days, don't you know
Great Aunt Kit, I remember you

About This Poem

Last Few Words: I finally remembered the name of the car she drove. It was called a Whippet.

Review Request Direction: What did you think of my title?
How was the beginning/ending of the poem?

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - draft

About the Author

Region, Country: New York State - USA, USA

Favorite Poets: Poe

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More from this author

Comments

Geezer

Yes, there is a difference between a flipper and a flapper. A flipper is one that smells like fish. Aunt Kit showed me pictures of her dressed for a night out on the town with her and her husband Bill. He had his hair slicked back and his little pencil-thin mustache and dancin' shoes on. They made quite the couple on the dance floor from what my father told me. ~ Geezer.
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C

What memories. My dad taught me the Charleston. There was something mystical about that era

Geezer

the Charleston and the Jitterbug. I taught my then girlfriend and went to the school dance on a Friday night and we rocked the place! I was 12 and it was a big deal. I couldn't wait to come home and tell my mom, grandma and aunt Kit and aunt Kit smiled more than I had ever seen her smile before. Yes, I learned something special that year. I also learned that no one lives forever, and aunt Kitty passed on to that speakeasy in the sky. ~ Geezer.
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Lavender

Hi, Geezer,
I love the beginning of the poem - right off the bat she seems like a character! I can hear the chatter during the poker and gin games. A very fond memory. Also, I so admire your rhyme!
Thank you!
L

Geezer

wasn't much of a talker. She was spare with her words, but she did smile at things I said or did and I think I used to do and say things to see her smile. She drank Schmidt's Ale and smoked unfiltered Camels and we listened to the radio play oldies from the 20's and 30's. A General Electric table fan, blowing back and forth in the hot summer afternoons. Memories indeed! If a person is intrigued by this era in my life [pre-teen], I have a number of these poems I want to include in a series; called East Main St. Another that is a little more obscure about Aunt Kit is called: Sea of The Hourglass. ~ Geezer.
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Lavender

Bring on the series! By the by: the above mentioned memories carry another wonderful poem! The GE fan blowing back and forth...
L

Edna Sweetlove

Edna Sweetlove

4 years 11 months ago

I enjoyed this little exercse in nostalgia but a few amendments might help...

Para 2: line 8 temperance - incidentally the drugs ban obviously stayed, but the temperance legislation was a unique US aberration in the 20s. The American 'Volstead Act' was an act of lunacy imposed on Americans by Christian teetoller missionaries which could only ever had had one result: gangsterism.

Para 5: I think it's probably "Schmidt" not "Shmidt" although the reference is lost on me.

Para 7: I think Mable not Mabel - by the way, the last 2 lines are VERY good indeed - sentimental and nostalgic.

Geezer

Geezer

4 years 11 months ago

the corrections in spelling. Yes, it was Mabel, I looked in my father's bible that he was given at her passing. As to the Schmidt's; it was a very popular ale that was called "Tiger Piss" by us younger folks, because it had a snarling Tiger's head on the label. I was really surprised at your endorsement of the last two lines, as I would think that you would find them passe at the least. ~ Geezer.
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Edna Sweetlove

...deeply sentimental underneath my carapace of iron.

Geezer

a hoot, as you say. I can still hear her say; "Me and Bill... and she would say that they had met Al Capone and some of his henchmen at a club and Al wouldn't dance, but he loved to watch. ~ Geezer.
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Breakinglogic

back in middle-school, in the first story I wrote, the main character's name was Mabel. I think this is the first time I've actually heard that as a real name.

Really sentimental. I admire the care you put into this. I think your first stanza is exceptional and I really like how the first line especially celebrates your great aunt Kitty.

Geezer

I was entranced by the stories that I heard about my great aunt Kitty! She, as I said in the poem, never said much about herself, but her sister, [my grandmother] and my father told me the stories about her. Her wood-frame sport car was called a Whippet. She did tell me about the Al Capone story and the secret knocks and hidden passages. I spent quite a few lazy, hot days in the kitchen playing cards with her, with an old G.E. electric fan blowing cool air just above the table, [so not to blow the cards away]. She smiled at me when she came back from visiting the bathroom and saw the foam on my upper lip, from taking a quick sip of her sweating glass of ale. I wonder if she knew the esteem I held for her and her story? Thanks again, for bringing those memories to life. ~ Geez. BTW, what brought this particular poem to your attention?
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S

This takes me back in time to the aunts I had. Each was a bit strange in their own way and are All sorely missed. Good poem and I have no suggestions for improvement