Emerson’s

It is the 1950s on
Uncle Emerson’s
Screened back porch,
The Mings sisters are
Lounging about talking
While husbands wander
About and us kids strain
To hear and understand
All the different conversations
Going on all at once.
I ask Emerson about his
Rabbit hutch and he tells
Me in excruciating detail
What happens when too
Many rabbits are confined
In too small a space too long.
Decades later I remember
All he said and think of the
Population boom in the third
World and all its consequences,
Fighting, disease and a drop
In population by death or
Emigration to somewhere.
The promise of modern
Medicine without the food
Resources or elbow room
To sustain the enlarged
Population living in poverty.
But on Emerson’s back
Porch with all the Mings
Sisters and brothers
Drinking iced tea and
Chatting about family
I am not phased by the
Rabbit hutch problems
As I am secure near
Grandma whose chief
Visible concern is
Fixing lunch and
Smiling at her
Progeny with
Pride.