A Basket of Flaming Ashes

A Song in the Shower

3 A Basket of Flaming Ashes A Song in the Shower You didn’t know I was listening As you sang in the shower. It was a simple old song But it jolted the strings of my past. The arrows of water poked my heart when you asked: ‘‘Where’s your Momma gone?’’* I answered in our living room in Buea Where Mama dusted her LP brought from London. You lathered soap and intoned ‘‘Where’s your Poppa gone’’ I felt a sting in both eyes. And answered by Papa’s Grundig gramophone Another memory of two lives I carry. You did not see me wipe the tears nor hear me whisper: ‘‘Far, far away’’ ‘‘Far, far away’’ You did not see me bury my head in both hands and rock my body. You came out in your towel smiling I smiled back, got up and we chorused: ‘‘ooh wee chirpy chirpy cheep cheep chirpy chirpy cheep cheep chirp’’ Singing my past into my present. * From ‘‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’’, a 1971 song by British Pop band, Middle of the Road. ...