Irene's Store

Sorry, I didn't realize this poem for Hertige Women's Book
was not finished. This is the final version. I hope.
I make many mistakes, grammer, spelling, punuation, etc. I
need to fix. This should give the worst writer in the world
courage. L.

IRENE’S STORE

In the town of Boulder, Utah
My mom, Irene, for awhile, had
The only store for thirty miles around
She had everything in that store
That you could think of
Groceries, blocks of taste cheese
Levies, cowboy boots
Lasso rope by the foot
Cattle vaccine, pocket knives
Sweet’s candy and cookies
Bread brought by the mail truck
You could get gasoline by
Pumping up five gallons by hand
Then shooting it down to your tank
You could even get a tire
Fixed at Irene’s store
Or darn good instructions
On how to do it yourself
You had to break it down
By running a car next to the rim

Mama liked to have fun
And you could always hear her
Musical laughter ringing out
High above everyone else
I think mama’s laughter just
Made people feel good
And that’s why so many people
Stopped by to visit so often
From all over the place
Daddy tried to get Mama to
Take the doorbell off the store
So we could have one meal
Without someone coming to the store
But she never did and “Ding dong.”
Somebody always had to
Jump up and run, usually her

Mama was the first mayor of Boulder
So we talked a lot about the town
She helped get the first water system in
And we stopped scooping mice
Out of that old cement cistern
She talked Dad into giving the town
The spring from the upper ranch
For great tasting drinking water
That needed no chemicals
It’s still the greatest tasting
Water in southern Utah

Mama became the first president
Of the Utah Cowbell association
And even helped think up that name
She got bored with the Cowboys
Having all the conventions and talk
The Cowbells put out a beef cookbook
With some of my mama’s tasty recipes
Including Hunter’s Delight,…yummy.

The store was where
We helped Mama put together
Case machinery just outside the door
That she sold to the ranchers
Where we had to help Daddy
Put in a new motor in his cattle truck
Where she taught men how to
Sling gas barrels off a truck the right way
You had to roll and move the weight
Where we had to lock the door
To run and help the young heifers
Next to the store in the catchall
Have their first oversized calves
She had me run back to the store
For these great big sulfa tablets
While she held the cows uterus
Then she stuffed it and the pill
Back inside clear up to her elbow
Then she cussed Daddy for
Buying that great big Herford bull
The cows lived and word got out
The store was where the dog ran in with
Hundreds of porky pine quills in his nose
That we had to extract with pliers
Where, Daddy drank up all the Shillings vanilla
Stuck out his chin and challenged her
“I know you’re mad…hit me right there.”
Mama knocked him right off the porch
Where he lay flat on his back
While his buddies laughed
I thought he might get up and kill her
The store was the only place to be
When Daddy and his buddies
Were passed out all over the house

But best of all were those
Two tables filled with arrowhead
Where you could sit with a cold coke
Or a beer and talk about everything
We five girls were Mama’s helpers
Especially when she drove off
To show tourists the back country
Or went to Richfield for freight
We were often there starting
Or getting in on wild conversations
There were more things discussed
In that store than anyplace in town
Maybe in all of Southern Utah,including church
In that store we could discuss anything
With many a sweaty cowboy over from
The round up at the Government corral
Needing cold refreshments or lunch
We’d be quiet when Daddy came in
To guzzle straight down one small cokes
Then reach for another, real coke in those days
But I remember Daddy cussing a lot
About all the stupid talk going on

What chance did we five girls have
Growing up in a store like that
Everybody coming by to see us
Everybody talking about everything
Some adventure always going on
Always meeting somebody new
Teasing, joking, flirting having fun
Doing flips, walking on my hand
Getting ready for the dances
I think two of my sister even
Found husbands in that store
I know some of us are still
The biggest talkers around
Hoping to spread a few new ideas
Still looking for new skills or new truths
Fighting causes, or discussing things that should
…or maybe shouldn’t be talked about
And laughing all the time just like Mama
And still wanting to have that fun
We became fearless just like her
She let me climb the highest ledges
My other sister chased wild steers
Another one nursed sick people and animals
Right in that little store, just like Mama
My older sister launched forbidden subjects
We could debate with the best of them
And doing it still, when we get a chance
But I wonder about those “hot rocks”
That those uranium hunters brought in
That Mama used to let us handle
And test with her Geiger counter
Maybe that’s what wrong with my hand right now

I can’t really blame Mama for how I turned out
Restless, curious, seeking, adventurous. gambling
Looking for a cause, a party or laugher
Always wanting something wild and crazy
Just being raised in Irene’s Store
…Linda King 2/18/2010