Events and Gatherings by Adam Bishop

The Aunts by Joyce Sutphen

I like it when they get together

and talk in voices that sound

like apple trees and grape vines,

and some of them wear hats

and go to Arizona in the winter,

and they all like to play cards.

They will always be the ones

who say “It is time to go now,”

even as we linger at the door,

or stand by the waiting cars, they

remember someone—an uncle we

never knew—and sigh, all

of them together, like wind

in the oak trees behind the farm

where they grew up—a place

I remember—especially

the hen house and the soft

clucking that filled the sunlit yard.

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Events and Gatherings by Adam Bishop

With the occasional get together

I reconnect with the old family

That I have known since I could remember

However, I do not know them at all

They seem mysterious and different

Even though they are related to me

I do not hate them, which is good I guess

In person, I enjoy their company

And they always bring me a gift or two

Other than that, though, they are just people

People that if I met in the market

I would instantly forget about them

Being separated might have caused this

Months in between every other meeting

Makes it difficult connecting with them

There was a time when we were all closer

Only blocks away, I could go see them

Talking and playing for hours on end

The big family events were the best

All my uncles, aunts, and little cousins

Gathered in one place, just to have some fun

Ten years ago, this happened every week

My eight year old self was having a blast

With a group I could call my family

This was not meant to last for us, sadly

Uncles and aunts were offered jobs elsewhere

And my little cousins grew up as well

Now we are just people to each other

But the memories do linger a bit

Just to remind me of what I once had