Aunt Dofeen

Her real name
Was Aunt Josephine,
But I couldn’t
Pronounce that
Back when I was young,
So I called her
“Aunt Dofeen”
And rest of the family
Simply followed suit.
She didn’t seem to mind.
She was a free spirit
If there ever was one,
A zany concoction
Of Southern aristocrat
And Western pioneer.
Aunt Dofeen was
An outrageous character,
As colorful
As they come.
There was nothing
Muted about her,
And she seldom hesitated
To speak her mind.
She must have
Chaffed terribly
Against the dictates
And relative drabness
Of mainland society.
The moment
She freed herself
From Uncle George,
She took flight
And headed for the tropics
Where her exuberance
And compulsive individuality
Were more the norm.
She discovered
The big Island
Of Hawaii,
And adopted it
As her new home.
She blended in
With the rest of
The fluorescent crowd
Taking the island by storm
And darn near
Conquering it.
What impressed me
The most about her
Was her determination
In the face of family
And circumstances
To dictate the terms
By which
She lived her life.
She had the courage
To do things
Her own way
No matter what
Anyone else thought.
She was crazy
Like a fox.