Grandpa and Grandma

Grandma's fat
grandpa's drunk
probably got bodies
in his trunk
grandma cheats at soltiare
gramps says nothing
stares into the air
smoke drifts up
through his silver grey hair

looking out at things

that just aren't there

gramps drove his car

into the lake

grandma was home bakin' a cake

skeeter and woodtick

pulled gramps out

he didn't say nothing

as he drove away

Grandma sits in the kitchen

all afternoon

drinking pabst blue ribbon

cheatin' at cards

playing solitare

won't admit her life was hard

Gramps is so distant

never says much

but he'll

burn you with a ciggarette

just a touch

never been the same

since world war one

always grumpy as hell

likes a mean sort of fun

Grandma's fat

grandpa's drunk

probably got bodies in his trunk

grandma cheats at soltiare

gramps

says nothing

stares into the air

smoke drifts up

through his silver grey hair

looking at things

that just aren't there....

Got to thinking about my grandparents tonight while playing the banjo. These lyrics popped out. And every word is true.

My grandmother loved to play Solitare. And she did it while drinking most of a six pack alot of the afternoons of the last decade of her life, often swearing at the cards and cheating while baking a pineapple upside down cake.

Gramps was a very quiet guy who really would burn you with one of the Camel unfiltered smokes he had in his hand. He'd say things like "watch me blow smoke through my eyes", then when he had your complete 9 year old attention, he'd touch his smoke to your hand. I remember going and telling mom he burned me. She said something like "you leave him alone, quit bothering him.

He was a quiet drunk, although he did now and again pick on Grandma for being too fat. He died of stroke in the early 70's. I never once missed his company.
Grandma Gert lasted till about 1974, and I still think of her often. She and I had breakfast or lunch almost every day the last few years, she lived across from the High School and Grade School I and my mother went to, and was the cook there for over 20 years. I still miss her, although I wonder how she'd feel about me being a big old dyke if she was alive today. I hope she'd be cool with it.
It wouldn't matter to Grandpa. He never seemed to notice me unless I was bothering him.