collection of Jan Kuhl

Audrey Ruth MacEllwayne

(watercolor on Arches Paper) 

*What, might you guess, are you staring at now?

I suspect you are somewhat unsure.

Would you like to suggest I enjoy a long rest?

Or will you be offering some cure?

It may seem just right to look off or take flight,

Quite convinced this old girl is insane.

But...you might just as well sit and chat for a spell.

My name’s Audrey Ruth McEllwayne.

My story’s quite common.  Not special at all.

You must pardon the luster it lacks.

I’m just one of those the gatekeeper chose

To ignore as I fell through the cracks.

It took one short moment. The shortest they had.

As short as a grasshopper’s snout.

The walls fell away, this particular day.

So my life moved from inside to out.

I clearly remember a building.

Quite plain, unattractively styled.

Some regrettable suits, wearing outdated boots,

Had positioned me there as a child.  

They spoke of some loss of a mother.

Some father quite fond of the drink.

I was shown to a bed with an unadorned head

Down the hall, near a porcelain sink.

I was given a pillow, a blanket,

And a small cardboard box for my things.

An old dressing gown in an odd shade of brown,

Held together with coarse, braided strings.

I was told I was lucky to be there.

There were those not so lucky as I.

I’d be told when to eat, wash my clothes, scrub my feet

As the days, weeks, then months tumbled by...

 *excerpt from EJ Stapleton's book

'Audrey Ruth MacEllwayne' copyright BOSC Publishing Company, Inc