Great-great-aunties
- Neroli Cottam
We are now great-great-aunties.
The newest generation, a great-great-nephew
born to a great-niece
Remember our own great-great-aunty
who seemed of tremendous age and stature.
My sister recalls biking to visit her
and getting pressed into cleaning out jam jars.
The old, sugary, sticky jam,
has to be spooned out into
a pan for the chooks or the pigs.
Great-great-aunty standing so
gaunt and tall that you
never thought to refuse her anything.
And besides, small girls
surely loved cleaning out jam jars,
with the reward of a biscuit and
a glass of milk afterwards.
Perhaps our newest great-great-nephew
will think of us as wisely aged,
he may even read poetry and will
definitely grow up in a
computer conversant, micro-chipped world
where all things seem possible,
even great-great-aunties
• Neroli Cottam is an Oamaru poet and artist.
