“Reading Aloud for his Grandson” by Stephen Page

“Reading Aloud for his Grandson” by Stephen Page

as published on RiverLit

read poem here:

Reading Aloud for His Grandson

For the seventh time in a row

Jonathan reads aloud a story

in rhyming couplets

for his grandson

who rests his head

on Jonathan’s arm

and sits with his dirty boots

tucked up under his legs

upon Teresa’s white couch.

It is a tale of a fisherman

who stands upon a muddy shore

of a lake in front of his home

and for months has hauled in

nothing but shoes and key rings

and buckets and bottles.

When he finally lands a fish,

the biggest fish ever caught

from the lake,

and the neighbors cheer,

and the book ends,

Jonathan’s grandson says:

Again.

Again.