Linda Rief’s recent The Quickwrite Handbook is filled with 100 mentor texts to spur creativity in writers young and old. When I got the book this summer, I started each morning for two weeks with one of her prompts. I continue to experiment with her mentor texts. Here is my response to her “The First Part Last”:
The First Part Last
So here’s a good day,
We’ll call it a favorite day.
The sound of birds out the window
wake me in the early morning hours.
My sister is still asleep
in the matching twin bed
as I slowly tiptoe out of the room.
My grandmother stands in the small kitchen
Mixing a fresh pot of iced tea.
She uses the white china pot,
covered in lovely red cabbage roses,
to prepare the hot tea before pouring the brew
over ice cubes that crackle and dissolve.
A few mint springs and lemon
will make the tea perfect for the warming day.
My grandfather sits on the screened porch.
Long before I was born,
My uncle and grandfather built that porch –-
everyone’s favorite room in the house.
Time alone with my grandparents,
before siblings and cousins arose,
was a rarity I inhaled like the
first breath taken when breaking through
the surface of a pool after a deep dive.
A Reading Life 
Well-crafted imagery — so precise — through the middle of this verse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So lovely from start to finish. This is a perfect description: “She uses the white china pot/covered in lovely red cabbage roses,/to prepare the hot tea before pouring the brew/over ice cubes that crackle and dissolve.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ve created great images – making tea in the china tea pot with cabbage roses takes me back in time – this is something my grandmother would have done. The photo of the porch makes me sigh with envy – I want to sit on that porch. Love this sentiment:
Time alone with my grandparents,
before siblings and cousins arose,
was a rarity I inhaled like the
first breath taken when breaking through
the surface of a pool after a deep dive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautifully written, just creates the loveliness of that morning, so good!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Special moments with grandmothers are so meaningful to us granddaughters. I love the image of you and your grandmother sipping special warm weather tea in a place built with love just for you two.
LikeLike