Postcard Proposals

Grandma says she knocked the ice from her mailbox
and the big sky of Montana fell out.
"Dear Helen, You should see this country. Hank."
Even then, Grandpa was a man who hoarded words
like pennies. It was that simplicity of his love
she trusted, generous as the long postcard sky
she packed inside her wedding trunk that morning.

Sibyl James has taught in the U.S., China, Mexico and Tunisia. Her books include The Adventures of Stout Mama and In China with Harpo and Karl.