TILLIE

The youngest and last of her clan
(there were eleven)
she lived alone in the place
that once housed them all.
She invented a word for the herd
of nieces and nephews who'd
mostly moved away -- niblings --
and dead-panned it at you
to see if you had a sense of humor.
Thirty years after she bought it
new she was still driving
her bright blue Fairlane that
had once made everybody talk.
She wore her religion lightly
like a spring jacket
but on one of my visits said
that when she died she wanted
her favorite niece to sing
You Can Have the Whole World
But Give Me Jesus.
I said if I was still around
I'd see to it.

I was.

I did.