Vicious Claws and a Rocking Chair

Soon after Beauty    
chased her last mouse    
the dog fell lame    
following on quietly    
without a yelp    
  
That winter  
rivers froze
cold enough for skates    
the oldest trees blew over    
and a telegram's arrival    
meant Grandpa had gone too    
  
Grandma chose    
to live alone    
thirty years wearing gray    
to match the habit of a big old house    
where cards were not allowed    
on Sundays  
though there was always  
cellophane wrapped candy  
smiling in a wooden bowl  
  
Without his clothes to wash and fold    
or three meals a day to cook    
there was never much to do    
but sit    
listen to the clock    
and wait    
thankful she could no more remember    
the dutiful chores from her past