Big Mama Poem by bob barci

My last boss doesn’t realize it,
but thanks to her,
I got to meet you.
She wasn’t woman enough
to let me go herself,
instead, she had someone else do her dirty work for her.
But, that doesn’t matter now,
cause two days later
I was at a new place and smiling up at you.
I was given several names to call you by,
OB1 Kanobe, Big Mama, Ma,
and your rightful name - Jean.
Now here was a lady
with a heart as big as all outdoors.
Couldn’t help but give you a hug
and a kiss whenever I saw you.
You made coming to work a pleasure.
Where else could you start the day with a slew of dirty and perverted jokes?
Who else would openly tell us how they liked to be pleased sexually
and ‘Have you ever tried this position? ”
All those leftover dinners
that you brought in and made us eat for lunch.
I never cared for country music
until you almost tied me to the chair
and forced me to listen to it for a week
until I realized that it wasn’t so bad after all.
That day you called the office
just to gossip and spend some time,
had I known it would be the last time I’d hear your voice,
I would have never let you off the phone.
Now my evening porch sittings
take on a new meaning.
I look up at the sky,
smile at the first star I see, and say “Hi Jean.”
I find, I can’t drink my morning cup of coffee
without your favorite country station playing on the radio.
Big Mama,
you found a place in my heart
I had forgotten was there,
and taught me how to love again.

Dedicated to Jean Appel