Blue Chair

A poem

Sucheta Tiwari Blue chair

New chair

(Keep away your shoe chair)

Reading corner

Books are on a

Pile high as a hill there

Put in a cushion and a throw

Catch me sinking, lying low

Feet raised up,

I'm nice and snug

For many hours- just a blink

In the greater scheme of things

Now milk and drool

Stain the footstool

No time to read

The child must feed

Things that get lost are always there-

Just lying on the nursing chair

Next thing I know

It’s tippy toes

And belly crawls

And many falls- she really bawls

But three years in

And things begin

To change again

She jumps and then

She's swinging now

Little feet and hands like paws

She looks so proud

Giggles aloud

It's magic here-

Gymnastics chair

Life moves ahead

(People, books, chairs and beds)

Almost at the speed of light

A total shuffle overnight

In this kerfuffle up the stairs

In my bedroom lands this chair

Look at me now

Sneaking somehow

(She builds a fort

In the room next door)

I grab a seat

Lift up my feet

What good luck- a book! This chair!

And right as rain, perks up my ear:

“Mummy!!”

“Yes, I'm coming, dear!”

*********

Objects of Our Affection is a series exploring our connections to the furniture and objects that make our spaces home. Through stories of tables, chairs, and that odd-shaped thing only you love, we celebrate the inanimate pieces that hold memory and witness our lives.

If you'd like to contribute your own story to this series, we'd love to hear from you. Micro-essays, poems, reflections, and fragments welcome. Write to us at hellothadi@gmail.com. Word limit 400.