Our yellow garage with
a padlock – foggy windows
near yellow tulips growing
in our garden –
Told to stay away from
– never get
to close to foggy windows,
but they were really dirty.
I tried to sneak closer,
creeping knee high in flowers
as my shoes smashed flowers
and Grandmother’s eyes watched
me through her window, upstairs.
“Daddy tell me what was
kept in our garage – what was
inside and kept a secret for
a lifetime?”
Often wondered why they
owned a garage since no one
had a car until the fifties.
Daddy told me, “your Grandfather
kept bananas safe, away from
summers heat and direct sun –
for the fruit man.”
You told me –
and I remember.
You told me your Father –
my Grandfather I never knew
worked for a fruit company,
for “Fruit Men.”
You told me –
and I remember.
But – you told me your
Father – my Grandfather –
he was killed working –
for those fruit men.
The fruit men killed
him –
Did – your Father –
my Grandfather –
destroy – all of their
bananas?