Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Randall MannAugust 26, 2000

The early-birds arrive before the sun;
they park their cars up on the neighbors’ grass.
We sell Grandmother’s things off, one by one.

Even before my father and I are done
labeling her furniture, en masse
the early-birds arrive, before the sun.

Her dishes are among the first things gone—
Corelle, that setting of the middle-class.
We sell Grandmother’s things off, one by one:

knitting needles, buttons, yarn, a ton
of safety pins. The things that they amass,
those early-birds, arrived before the sun.

By eight o’clock the yard is overrun.
We move her clothes, her single demitasse;
we sell Grandmother’s things off, one by one...

Father, it’s late. Remove the signs. First son,
forget the unsold still-lifes on her grass.
Forget that early-birds arrived before the sun
to cart your mother’s things off, one by one.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The people of God see the bishop of Rome as a teacher, but they also unquestionably see him as a father.
J.D. Long GarcíaMay 01, 2025
Since the death of Pope Francis, lists of his possible successors have proliferated on social media and in newspapers. Should you trust them?
Colleen DulleMay 01, 2025
A Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, by Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinApril 30, 2025
In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.
Gerard O’ConnellApril 30, 2025