{"id":10764,"date":"2021-02-28T17:18:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T00:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=10764"},"modified":"2021-02-28T17:18:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T00:18:09","slug":"tylas-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=10764","title":{"rendered":"Tyla’s Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Image from page 780 of journal\u00c2\u00a0Die Gartenlaube<\/em>, 1886.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WC Roberts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\nTyla's friend\nis always the same, dressed in that gingham dress\ntrying to get her to dance those old dances\n   Charleston<\/em>\n   Jitterbug<\/em>\nsaying not to worry about what's happening\n\"over there\" in Germany.  President Roosevelt\nwill see us through this depression\nand keep us out of the war.\n \nTyla tells her friend this is all old stuff\nbut she won't listen\nshe'll only listen when Tyla takes up\nher Grandmother's old thimble\n   silver<\/em>\n   pitted<\/em>\nthe interest clear on her friends face\nwhen Tyla holds it.\n \nTyla hears her mother crying at night\n   worry<\/em>\n   frustration<\/em>\nher stepdad, he\ntries to sooth her, telling her\nthat kids have imaginary friends\nher mom cries harder sometimes\nsaying, but not to the teens!\n \nShe hears it all but can't say a thing\nno one understands her\nno one cares\n   depression<\/em>\n   aloneness<\/em>\nbut her friend, she is different\nshe understands when Tyla feels the pain\nwhen she feels the - empty\ndarkness inside\n \n 2\n \nGrandmother's old thimble, pitted\nALM engraved on the smooth base\nGrandma's initials\n   worn<\/em>\n   tired<\/em>\nIt fits her thumb perfectly\nhelping Tyla find calm\nremembering Grandma when she\nstill lived and listened\n \n\"Tyla!\"  The friend is pushy when she shows up\nbut that's fine, not that she ever bothered\nto look Tyla in the eye\n   avoidance<\/em>\n   distraction<\/em>\nthe thimble brightens like new at her presence\nsparkling, like the light that\nonce gleamed from grandma's bi-color eyes\nand that still sparkled in Tyla's memories\n \n\"I miss Grandma, girlfriend.\" Tyla says\ndepressed, saddened more than usual\n--\"maybe I should go to her.\"\n   suicide<\/em>\n   depression<\/em>\nthe friend was quiet, then she spoke\n\"don't talk like that, Ty-girl. It isn't that bad here.\"\nThe friend faced away, at the window\n--\"it can always be worse.\"\n \n\"Besides, I think your Grandma wouldn't like that.\"\nTyla couldn't look up.  \"How would you know--\nyou aren't even real.\" she whispers\n   sympathy<\/em>\n   concern<\/em>\n\"you might be surprised\" the friend's voice\nthe tone older, mature\nfamiliar<\/em>\nsounds strangely like her mother\n \n3\n \n\"I was born right after the big crash of '29\nand I lived the Depression. I saw what the war\ndid to our men. It took my brother\"\n            sadness<\/em>\n            concern<\/em>\n\"I lived through hate and hardship and\nbad things in life and family,\" the friend's voice\nchanges, firms yet remains\nsympathetic, familiar\n \n\"So you hold that thimble, Ty-girl, take\nfrom it some peace. Its feel can be a comfort\nif you let it.  It was for me\"\n            realization<\/em>\n            shock<\/em>\nTyla snaps up to look into\nbrilliant young blue eyes in a craggy aged face\nGrandma's<\/em> eyes\nfilled with love and care\n \n\"It can always be worse, but hold my thimble close\nI'll always be there with you.\"\n <\/font><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WC Roberts Tyla’s friend is always the same, dressed in that gingham dress trying to get her to dance those old dances    Charleston    Jitterbug saying not to worry about what’s happening “over there” in Germany.  President Roosevelt will see us through this depression and keep us out of the war.   Tyla tells […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10766,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10764\/revisions\/10766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}