“Challie”– An Ode to Home

“Challie”

By Melinda Wilder

The man who pronounced his name Challie

And bought bread from me-age 18- was there

I saw him in the grocery store

The girl who dated my friend sophomore year

Can’t remember what school she went to

I saw her in the airport

That guy who made my friend cry on a date

And wears ridiculous hats

I saw him at the brewery

Now I head back to a place

Where no one is a memory

(Only of the short term)

Nothing takes me back

But Charlie was the sweetest old man I ever knew

Love,

Lou, who sat at the very back of the airplane, and wrote this poem on her journey back (from) home