Shopping for Hairpins

is the way you spend the day with your grandmother

as if you saw her yesterday and not last year

no need to talk about where you’ve been     just

if you have time

              for hairpins      the kind that holds fine hair

is what is important is what is necessary

besides eating       in no particular order       everything on your plate

in between    have some more        hairpins

the kind they don’t make any more  the kind that keeps

short ends from falling

                                   that only a good thin pin will catch

they just don’t make them anymore with her

persistence

that hairpins become a necessity

so important that you spend years looking for the ones

that held her hair in an up-do

so she is always there         asking you      if you remember

the thin kind the kind that are so thin they disappear