40 Feet Tall

ALL people make SOME difference ....Some people make ALLthe difference..

The woman I love is forty feet tall

Forever…….

Her hugs

 Feel like

My favorite nook

In the apple tree

Where I climb sometimes

When I feel small.

And she smells like ….

 pot roast

Emmeraude

Jean Nate’

and

Love.

 

She let me wear her long white gloves

On Saturdays

While we played

Big Band music

On the console

And danced barefoot

 to Nat King Cole

on that funky

 green

rug………

Shag –carpet ballerina

 

She taught me

How….. not to lead

And  helped Me

Move………

Like

a

Future ballroom Diva

 

The Lady…. taught me to be elegant

A postured Queen….

Inside my fumbling adolescent self.

 

We played marathon card games

During thunderstorms

By candlelight

ate raisins with chopsticks

And…

We’d giggle some

And

I loved her.

 

The woman gave me wisdom

That I needed….

To grow

To pray..

To believe…

To make ..

A difference…

A footprint….

Wherever I go.

 

When others had disowned me

The times that I would fall.

I never had a worry

Cuz the woman

That had my back 

Was forty feet

 

T

A

L

L.

 

 

 

© 2007 Jennifer Hampton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Bubo]

When others had disowned me
And the times that I would fall.
I never had a worry
Cuz the woman
That had .....my back
was
Forty
feet
tall.

I wish Ihad a Grandma like that!You have written such a joyous beautiful piece for her.......and she must seem 40ft tall bring such a mentor, and tower of strenght..........loved the flow.

[Rain]

I LOVED this! What is it about grandmas and pot roasts ? My wife's Grandma "always made pot roast, and I loved the smell. And like Jeffery..that was such a cool analogy about your favorite nook in the old apple tree and her embrace. This was a beautiful memory brought to life. Rain..

[Leigha Hoffner]

thank you for your submission.

[~ Tex]

Good work. I'd hate to see the bill for clothing and alterations. LOL

Enjoyed it!

[Kimberly Tickle ~~~ Dia..]

This was great..I love the structure and the flow....It is lovely to have someone that has your back and that has brought you up and taught you what you know.....Seems like this 40 feet tall woman maybe be your backbone.....Keep up the good work.......


~~~~~Kimberly Tickle~~~Diamonds Of Life

[Sharla Gentile]

She sounds a lot like my great-grandmother.

Very poignant and such a precious tribute to someone who must have stood "40 Feet Tall" in your life.

Extremely well written, J!

[Barry S. Maltese]

You say that you Loved her - I disagree. Because you still do Love her. She means so much to you ans what you are inside that you composed this wonderful dedication. The way she touched your soul, and gave you a sense of being happy and normal, became a foundation in your life. . . . . and for the record, she sure sounds like an awesome human being. One who will live on in you forever. Even though she has gone to her rest and reward.
Great write, my friend. Touchingly enjoyable.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Yes, the house that the third piggy built of bricks and the house built on a rock and to be loved by a woman forty feet tall are all protection against the wolf, against the storm, against the lies and the schemes of rebel hearts. It is all a singular direction. Real blessings are not metaphors but we find them everywhere when we look. Love and life are the same word for things too often separated in our hearts and minds. But it is wonderful when I see them come together like in this woman forty feet tall. What a great tribute to a special lady.

[Emily B]

A beautiful tribute to a special lady. I was touched by this stanza particularly:

The woman gave me wisdom
That I needed
To grow...
To pray..
To believe
To make
A difference
A footprint
Wherever I go.

[Ms. Unheard Voice]

I loved this piece and I wish you would have been able to enter it because it would have had a great chance of winning. Out of all the interesting titles of other poems you have written, this one stood out to me the most because of the title... All my life I have stood out because I am 6'2 and everyone in my family can't justify where I get my height from. Freak of nature I guess but anywayz, I loved it and keep up the good write's!!!

[Quiescent]

I wish I could borrow your grandmother for a while... She sounds like a treasure. My Grandmother was my "Smiling Grandmother Lady". She didn't always have a great life, but for some reason, there was always this kind of half smile on her face. Even when she was exasperated at life, that smile was always there. Thanks for sharing the memories.

-Q-