Mother’s Day weekend is one that for many is bittersweet… but this poem struck me as motherhood perfection. I first heard it on the Poetry For All podcast yesterday and after hearing it I immediately purchased the Kindle copy of Dorianne Laux’s Life On Earth: Poems. Dorianne Laux is a new-to-me poet, but this poem resonated deeply with me… and I thought it might with you too.
Singer
by Dorianne Laux
If I could go back to the living room window
of my childhood house, look again
through the pane, it would be a telescope lens
through which I might see the first woman
I ever met, my mother at her sewing machine,
rewinding the bobbin, little spool with holes
like an old movie reel our tiny lives
spun inside of. I might see
her long piano fingers touch the balance wheel,
the throat plate, the presser bar, one bare foot
working the treadle, her heel revealing
only the first three letters in black latticed metal:
SIN. My mother was what some called
a sinful woman: divorced, pregnant
without a husband, a baby boy given up
for adoption, remarried, another baby
born of another man, a one night stand,
while her husband was away at war.
She drank too much, thought too much,
laughed with her head thrown back, danced
with anyone. Too pretty, too brainy,
too tall, her black hair a snare
that hooked men in. But right now
she’s fully visible, stretching the fabric
for a kitchen curtain, a child’s dress,
swatches she salvaged from the deep
sale bins, using the selvedge for a hem
thereby cutting her handwork by half,
the black oiled mechanism banging out
dress after dress, tablecloths and runners,
nothing she couldn’t cobble together
from the waste of others. She was
a very particular, peculiar mother
and by now you can see why
we loved her. She was a lit fuse
in the rain. She turned from her work
and set those same fingers
on the piano keys and pulled
music through the air. Making something
from nothing was what she was good at:
love, children, pants and skirts
to dress them in, a table covered
with cherries on which the beautiful food
appeared, roses from her front yard garden
in an old cracked vase, her long arms
around our shoulders saying Sit still. Eat. Try not to spill anything.
This week I have not slept a lot! But! The reason is not insomnia… no instead I have watched every minute of the DNC each night. There were so many amazing speakers and last night Madam Vice President was the capstone of the event. (If you missed it, you can watch it here!)
However, one beautiful poetess really captured my attention. (Okay, Tim Walz and his family did too… don’t we all just adore Gus Walz?)
In case you missed the glorious Amanda Gorman… I am sharing her new poem, This Sacred Scene. You can find the text of it here… I have been reading it over and over. But hearing and watching her recite it is a real treat.
Have a great weekend everyone! See you all back here on Monday with my word update!
After a week of unbelievably steamy, hot weather which drove me back to my “indoor” desk… the past two mornings have been a welcome change. Cooler temps and the lack of humidity found me back on my porch… ahhh! (Never fear, that hot, oppressive weather is due back any second now!)
All week I have been contemplating what to post on Friday… with no inspiration at all! But!! I have not done a Friday RIFF in a while… so let’s get started!
Reflecting —
July is a very good month for me to do some reflecting! My word, time, continues to be an engaging word for me and a bit of review in my journal reminded me that there is a book I want to (re)read before the summer is over. I might have forgotten it had I not done some reflecting on where I have been! I did some honest reflection on my closet… (those things I was keeping because I might someday be able to wear them again… ) well, I am happy to say that all those things are making their way to new homes! I pulled out my knitting last night and found comfort in the familiar rhythm of making one stitch after another. It was a pleasant way to pass the evening watching something on CreateTV with Steve.
Immersing —
Last December, I began a weekly practice with Margaret Renkl’s The Comfort of Crows. Each week, I read her essay and then I write down my thoughts about my backyard. This practice has been such a life altering thing for me. I feel “in” the season and have spent almost no time wishing for the next thing to arrive. And I am really loving the things I am realizing simply by paying attention to my ‘backyard world’. Steve is not a reader, but he has loved hearing essays and our discussions about them has been equally fun! (I guess we are officially old as birding is THE THING in our lives! LOL) I was more than a little bit excited when I saw that Margaret has me covered for next year as well!
(epic) Failure —
As in the MSM’s “Pundit’s” failure in coverage of President Biden. (I’d also add in here the elected White Men and White Women who have also showed their hand as well!) If you are wondering what I am talking about, just Google Brokered Conventions and see the results (cliffs notes: we lost every election where this happened!) When all this nonsense started, I had this niggling thought in my brain that what this was really all about was VP Harris… and I fear I am right.
and finally, because I don’t want to end this on that low note…
Feast —
Today I am baking something with some amazing Michigan blueberries! (Yes, I think Michigan blueberries are THE best!) and I put the ice cream maker back in the freezer to make a second batch of peach ice cream! (the first batch was amazing!) So there will be some summer feasting going on here! And now I am going to start the dough recipe that Carole shared a few weeks ago! Pizza happy hour FTW!
That’s all from me, have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
Yes, February is moving on… rather rapidly! (too rapidly?) I am thinking that our little run of gloriously sunny days might be the reason why… because the normal sunless winter we usually get… well, those days just seem to drag, don’t they?
But this week was for learning… and learn I did! So let’s get started!
I had no clue that I really needed a Fast Car duet coupled with a rousing rendition of Both Sides Now… every. single. day. The most delicious ear worms. Who knew that songs from what feels like a lifetime ago, suddenly have new life in my head!
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Foyle’s War… I needed a Seaming Companion this week and Christopher Foyle and dear Sam were just the ticket! Two episodes “done” and I have just two seams to go on my sweater! The seaming will end soon (today maybe) but I think that I will be spending a bit more time with the Foyle Crew!
And speaking of seaming… I had forgotten how magical mattress stitching is! Although sleeve caps remain one heck of a challenge! They are the Main Culprit for my Seaming Angst. But down the “straightaway” … well, it might be the most fun of knitting!
In the ongoing search for “Horse Books” for Genevieve, I discovered Elaine Heney! (and there are LOTS of books by her to grow Vivi’s library!)
And there you have the things I learned this week… Happy Friday, Everyone! See you all back here on Monday!
It has been a topsy-turvy week here… we went from having temps in the teens on Sunday… to this morning an unbelievable 63°F. It smells like spring outside… and the birds must be thinking so as well because there was so much singing as Sherman and I trekked out this morning. The best thing might have been CLEAR SKIES!!! Those clear skies afforded me a glance at a Wolf Moon that was slowly setting.
So with a topsy-turvy week, my thoughts are sort of topsy-turvy as well… but an every once in a while you just need a good Friday brain dump, right?
Wolf Moon in pink skies…
Re-thinking —
This week Bonny posted about The Barbie Movie… which I have not seen. Then Kym sent some more encouragement my way about how I just might enjoy it… because it is fun! And then the icing on the cake came this week with the Oscar nominations… of course Ken was nominated… Which seems to me to highlight life for women… we do all the hard work, make all the things happen (and generally on time) and our reward is… no notice at all. So, this weekend I will be tucking in with my Great Cabled Sweater and watching The Barbie Movie with thoughts of solidarity for women everywhere.
Impetus (reignited) —
Speaking of that Great Cabled Sweater… well, I fanned the flames on it a bit yesterday and cruised through the button holes and made a LARGE dent in the shawl collar… I have a few repeats of increases and then a tiny bit of straight knitting before arriving at the Short Rows Portion of the collar. I am thinking the other band will go much quicker as I won’t have to make button holes… and I am thinking that The Great Seaming will happen in early February!
(a mighty) FINE (sewer) —
One of you asked earlier this week what I was going to do with my “pages” when I am finished sewing them. When I went to pull fabrics for this 100-day journey… I stumbled across all sorts of bits of fabrics from things I had sewn for Heidi’s kids… things that no longer fit (as happens with growing children) and I thought that putting them all together for her in a sort of a memory book would be special to her. Page one turned out so well… and page two is looking mighty fine as well (of course, I am biased) but I think it fits for Heidi’s “farm!” I am having so much fun with this project… most especially the timeframe… 15 minutes a day. It is a wonder what you can accomplish in just 15 minutes.
Days One and Two… and I think you can see my faint pencil lines of where I am heading later today…
Finding (answers) —
There has been a mystery that has puzzled me for a few months now… at first I thought it was a “one off” and the toilet paper scoring machine was having a moment. But then the next package had more of the same strange scoring on the TP… waves… ripples… not straight. (And honestly, I thought it was because we bought our TP at the Costco… so I thought they might be getting the “imperfect” lots.) But no… that is not the case at all! Leave it to Slate to uncover the toilet paper perforation mystery!
And there you have it… I am itching to get back outside in this unbelievable January April weather! See you all back here on Monday!
