Lingonberries

My Aunt Nellie was one of eight children,
lingonberries her favorite fruit.

She served them on pancakes for breakfast,
a breakfast we children liked best.

After the death of her husband,
by heart attack,
she herself suffered osteoporosis.

She shrank and cramped up like a crab.

The last time I saw her, she told me,
“Don’t forget the little people.”
She meant the poor.

Lingonberries make me remember.
I do not forget.