‘Who ate my last banana?’
gruffly asked my new step dad.
It was me, I knew it was,
but boy he sounded mad.
‘I ate the last banana,
I admit it, it was me;
any food found in the kitchen,
for us kids means it is free.’
‘Well I bought those bananas,
they were for me and not for you!’
You see he hadn’t any kids before,
and so to him I was kind of new.
I told him I had bought the cookies,
that he happily ate just after lunch;
but if he really wanted a banana,
I’d go to the store and buy a new bunch.
He said no never mind,
it really was okay;
and with that I turned around,
and I was off to play.
I found a gift when at the store,
with just myself and mom;
I smiled so bright and wrapped it up,
I couldn’t wait for Christmas to come.
On Christmas Day he unwrapped his gifts,
but there was one still left from me;
he smiled and laughed when he saw what I bought,
his very own banana tree.
I said ‘I promise only to eat the ones
that are hanging on the tree,
and if the last one sits on the stand,
it’s for you and not for me’.
It became our inside joke,
and I know he loved that tree;
something special just between,
my new step dad and me.
Go forward several years later,
my step dad had passed away;
my mom gave me the banana tree,
and on my counter it does stay.
I use it every week,
and every once in a while;
when there is just one banana left,
I think of him and smile.
© Leslie C Dobson