BlueIris
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 05:52 AM
Original message |
The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poetry Break, 8/5/09 |
|
"Mother and Child"
A child pedals down the street in an orange plastic go-cart. The wheels rattle on each crack. Pieces of torn leaves lie around me on the lawn. Yesterday Mother shaped the chinese privet bush into a perfect box. Beside me, a line of black spears points up to the sky. I lean on the iron fence and wait for her exit. The schnauzer hangs from the leash anchored in her right hand, his front paws dancing just above the ground. "You're choking the dog," I say. She loosens the rein and in the silence the dog lifts his leg on the hydrangea bush. The wide, low branches lie on the ground, swayed by the weight of the white flowers. "Seen this morning’s paper?" she finally asks, "typist needed on the west side." I light another cigarette and cross my arms of the size-large man's button down that covers the child I've carried six months now. "They let typists nurse their babies on the job?" I ask. She reels the leash in, drags the dog toward her. "The papers are signed. Don't let that couple down." The garage door opens, the car backs out and she backs out. "Take out the garbage cans, okay? I'll bake chicken tonight." I watch her car shrink down the road, sharp and flat as the last tin target parading inside a carnival shooting stall.
~Christianne Balk
|
BlueIris
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 05:53 AM
Response to Original message |
1. On a purely selfish note, my slogan suggestion is a finalist in the August contest. |
|
"When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Resign Suddenly: Palin 2012." Anyone who wants to vote for me should go here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6218900&mesg_id=6218900
|
Tuesday Afternoon
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 08:48 AM
Response to Reply #1 |
|
Edited on Wed Aug-05-09 08:48 AM by Tuesday Afternoon
I voted for yours. There are some good ones this time. :donut: :hi:
|
BlueIris
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 09:00 AM
Response to Reply #2 |
3. Thanks, Tuesday. I knew I could count on you. nt |
BlueIris
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 09:45 AM
Response to Original message |
CaliforniaPeggy
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 11:07 AM
Response to Original message |
|
This is interesting...
A couple of sets of mothers and children?
Lives in transition...
Thanks!
:hi:
|
BlueIris
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Aug-05-09 11:06 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
6. Yes, this poem is layered quite skillfully. |
|
I just hope my "campaign" to win a free DU sloganed t-shirt didn't cause the piece to get lost in the shuffle.
|
ThomCat
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Thu Aug-06-09 05:24 AM
Response to Original message |
7. What a really sad poem. |
|
:cry:
A pregnant woman who doesn't want to be pregnant but wants to be a mother.
A woman who wants to be a mother but doesn't want to be a grandmother.
The mom wanting her daughter to quickly get over this and move on.
The daughter apparently sure that she won't.
The lingering hostility so calmly expressed.
This is very very beautifully presented, and so incredibly sad. :(
|
BlueIris
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Thu Aug-06-09 05:47 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
8. Glad someone picked up on the lingering hostility. |
|
That was what made this poem jump out at me.
|
DU
AdBot (1000+ posts) |
Tue May 07th 2024, 08:33 AM
Response to Original message |