My Mother in Downtown Seattle
by Jane Lang

We took a bus; it was shortly
after the end of WWII
A lady did not go to
downtown Seattle without
a hat and gloves
My mother was a lady

My mother took writing
material and a book, a
Harlequin Romance
nestled in a plastic shirt
protector, probably from
JC Penney

My mother “window shopped”
Rhodes, by our bus stop, on up
to 4th Avenue: The Bon Marche
Frederick and Nelson and my
much-anticipated stop at a
five and dime lunch counter
before our bus ride home

Tired, cranky–me
patient, loving–she
a street photographer
snapped a photo of us
at the end of the day



 

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