If asked about her education, she’d say,
You mean schooling? Well, mostly
a wooden chair—
ladder-backed, straight,
raw wood,
small, hard, hand-hewn,
pegged together
with no glue, no nails.
She’d say,
I’ d pull my wooden chair
up to Daddy’s
wooden chair.
I’ d ask him how to spell.
And he’ d help me spell
until he said,
“Frances Lee, it’s time for bed now,”
and I’ d say,
“Alright, Daddy,”
and I pushed my little wooden chair
up under the dark table
and did like he said.