These are first drafts ... so be kind!
Here are three poems that I scribbled and scrawled today
THINGS I NEVER THOUGHT WOULD BE DIFFICULT
Walking in heels on cobblestone
Watching a school bus
Swallow my three-year-old
The first day of preschool
Her image in the back window
Two big eyes memorizing my face
One small hand moving side to side
As if erasing me completely
Keeping my photos organized, printed, posted and shared
Staying in touch with loved ones
Letters fade to emails
Emails evaporate into annual holiday greetings
And the years march by
Cutting my own hair
Moving to a new country every few years
Sleeping without you beside me
Making time to visit my home town
Recognizing that my parents have grown older
Realizing that I’ve left home for good
~Angela
Summer Solstice Scrawl Crawl 21 June 2011
THE LEADER
Short and slim
he walked with a limp
and one leg bowed
The eldest
The driver
cigarette perched on his lip
glasses dangling at the end of his nose
Hopping off
at every stop
Hurrying
He rolled the cans
two by two
set them sailing
to the others
whose legs are straight
and shoulders strong
They lift and dump
into the back of the truck
as he did
years ago
~Angela
Summer Solstice Scrawl Crawl 21 June 2011
Okay, so I’m not going to post the third poem.
It’s too rough, too long & I want to go hang out with my family!
It was about an elderly lady who sat next to me in the bakery. The entire place was empty. I was the only one seated at a table. Still, she asked if she could join me & we drank our coffee together.
Thank you Kirsten and Tioka for everything you do.
And Norma for keeping me out of trouble!!!
xoxo Angela
Angela---so nice to see you here. I especially like your first poem and that one small hand. I can relate to so many of the things on your list. Wondering what your imbiss order is....
ReplyDeleteThank you, Emily -Norma said the same thing about the poem. I get a children's size döner with everything except scharf.
ReplyDeleteThe little hand erasing, so poignant. It brought it all back, children disappearing into another world that you are not a part of, tears at the airport as our daughter left for a year of travel, tears in the supermarket car park as I loaded the car with enough groceries to last my son forever in his new life at college. Tears for losing another little bit of my role as mother. Nothing like a good cry to cheer you up!
ReplyDeleteThere are echoes too of Stevie Smith - not waving, but drowning.
I really like you work.
Oh, thank you for those kind words about the poem. I'm so glad you liked it and thrilled that it brought back memories of your own! I always feel better after a good cry, myself!!!
ReplyDeleteJust read your poems again. I am moved by the tenderness of "The Leader".
ReplyDeleteI had an old lady do the same thing to me 40 years ago. It was in Leicester, England. She had been born there, but had lived her life in Australia after meeting her future husband on the boat over to join an Aunt for a holiday. They married on the boat and she had spent her time helping him to run a sheep farm and bringing up children. She drew a map on a serviette to show me where she lived in Adelaide for when I was to visit her. She was 85 and I was 20. Friendship can bridge any gap, can't it?
Sue - Yes, friendship can bridge any gap!!
ReplyDeleteI relate to so much in the first one, and love the new perspective for me in the second...and very intrigued by what passed between you over coffee...so happy you posted them, thank you for sharing them. T and I cannot take any credit for your creations but giving you the opportunity makes me feel all happy inside. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the reality of your poems, Angela. I can relate in so many ways. Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteKirsten and Maria - thank you for reading and for commenting - I love creating and connecting -this was such a great idea!
ReplyDelete