Mending

Mending

It came to breaking down her things,
Into small parcels, into the hands of the ones she had loved.
And I went away clutching the small straw sewing basket,
To be stashed away, in a secret place,
And retrieved again on quiet nights,
Or in those early morning hours when she is close,
To trace my fingers over the odd assortment of
Smooth round buttons, crinkled foil packets of darning needles,
And tangles of colored threads,
All woven together in a curious tapestry
embraced now, as my own

Autumn

Autumn

The leaves were turning then
The last she’d ever see
My heart was full of pain
she was as beautiful to me
as the leaves before they fell
their colors only deepened
by the early autumn rain

My Mother The Dancer

My Mother the Dancer

My mother the dancer
cut my tights when I was
in the third grade
to make herself stockings

Sat on the floor of the
living room with me
and made paper dolls
while mold grew on
old pots of spaghetti

Cut my hair so badly
the teacher asked
if she put a bowl
over my head

Sang songs to me
about a rubber dolly
and the hokey pokey
and drew pictures
of girls with long eyelashes

Let me help
wind the yarn into balls
crocheted slippers and sweaters
that shrunk up in the washer

My mother the dancer
dressed up fine on Friday nights
and went out with Irma
and the girls
while my father paced the floor

This is Little Vic, who came to be known later as Captain Crisci. He was my big brother, and frequently he was my hero. I miss him.

Captain Crisci, formerly known as Little Vic

The obituary of Captain Crisci
Captain Victor P. Crisci formerly of Leominster Massachusetts, died in a Key West, Florida, hospital after a long illness, on July 8, 2000. He was born in New York City but moved to Leominster with his family as a child and remained in Leominster until entering the Coast Guard in 1960. After 23 years, he retired from the Coast Guard as a Chief Petty Officer in 1983. He was a Viet Nam Vet and also served as the Chief Bosun’s mate for 8 years on the Coast Guard Sailing Ship, The Eagle, one of the Tall Ships. Captain Crisci was a colorful and well known resident of Key West since his retirement and lived on his sailboat, the Fantasii. He is survived by 4 children, Candice and Veronica Crisci of Brownsville, Texas, Chris Crisci of Clearwater FL., Karen Crisci of Weston FL, and a granddaughter, Megan Crisci, of St Petersburg, FL. He also leaves 10 brothers and sisters, George Crisci of Hopkinton MA, Susan Phillips of Fitchburg, MA, Nancy Samrow of New Orleans, LA, Danny and David Crisci of Leominster, MA, Virginia Elliott, who lives in Germany, Wayne and William Aho of Leominster, MA, Sharon Gionet of Orange, MA and Melanie Davis of Athol, MA. His father, Victor E Crisci passed away in May of 1998 and His mother, Agnes Aho, passed away in October of 1993.