Kitchen table gossip

Freshly brewed coffee beans
wafts upon ribbons of autumn,
drenching the morning
with memories of momma,

Vintage creamer cow paired
with matching sugar dish,
serve as centerpieces
for table and for gossip
long before computers would

Eight fifteen a.m. every weekday
like clockwork
the brown sedan arrives
parking under the pine tree

Screen door springs creak
entrance is made
of a frail woman
whom seats her self
and immediately lights a cigarette

As every day before,
it is the same when momma offers her milk,
she places her aging hand over cup
exclaiming,
I like my coffee like my men,
Strong and Black,
Laughter erupts from the kitchen
and travels to my room

Longing to know what women know
I tiptoe, one foot in front of the other
past the hallway to crouch beside the buffet
listening intently to grown up gossip

©Melinda Kay Carpenter 10/30/2015

*This is the first poem that I have written in 3 1/2 years. I realize it's a little rough, I am trying to get back in the swing of things. I didn't realize by hosting a contest with poetry prompts it would lead to this. I intended on writing something funny but it took on its own life, as poetry has a way of doing. Thank you for reading it.