I'd put it off long enough.
I just dreaded the very thought,
Of sorting through all this stuff.
Slowly, I made my way,
Carefully to the back.
It was then I noticed an old trunk,
I knelt down and started to unpack.
This was my Mom's old trunk,
Gosh, how long had it been?
We put it up here right after she died,
And then Dad had moved in.
With a lot of pent up emotion,
I opened up the lid.
I wasn't sure what I'd find,
What secrets that were hid.
The first thing I pulled out,
Was my favorite doll, Sue.
I didn't know that she'd kept this!
I had gotten it when I was only two.
Then, as I dug a little deeper,
I pulled out a stack of mail.
They were neatly tied together,
And had a rose like smell.
I gently tugged at the ribbon,
It had yellowed with age.
The letters fell out easily,
I began reading the first page.
To My Love, it started out,
It seems like its been years.
I think about you day and night,
The page was stained from tears.
I read on and on till at last,
The final letter was closed.
I must have sat there for hours,
Reading about a love I had exposed.
My Mom had received all these letters,
From a secret love in her past.
I'm sure my Father was never aware,
He would surely have been aghast.
So, carefully I folded,
Every letter together again.
I picked up the tattered yellow ribbon,
And put them back where they had been.
I closed the trunk at this moment,
I sat back in a stunned daze.
I never thought when I came up here,
I'd find out about this phase.
I slowly descended back down the stairs,
And said a silent prayer.
Thankful that my Mom was faithful,
Till her dying hour.
I realized a lot that day,
As I sit here and look back.
The secrets that an old trunk can hold,
If one you ever start to unpack.
Debbie Dodson
March 11, 2000
