Friday, 28 February 2014
Small Disappointments
By Arlene Corwin
Stamped, tattooed,
The small boo-hoos of childhood.
“Mommy please, a pair of tap shoes”
“Mommy, that Hawaiian skirt,
Oh mommy, mommy please”
No dear, you have a murmur of the heart.”
“As for the skirt, we can’t afford it.”
Small longings never gotten to,
Absolutely not forgotten, so
She never tapped,
She never swayed;
Seldom put words to a wish.
She thought, she felt.
Mommy firm, she got the message.
And she never argued;
Got to play the harp instead.
She sang, she learned piano, but
Such tiny sorrows stay.
[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Please read instructions for submitting.]
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Comments
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Arlene-
There is such pain and frustration in your poem, from the standpoint of a little girl.
Those things stay with us our whole lives, but you putting into prose should help. I find writing is quite therapeutic. I usually wait long enough to laugh at it, but sometimes laughter never comes.
Posted by: joanne zimmermann | Friday, 28 February 2014 at 10:27 AM
We do grow up but some things we wanted are never forgotten. Loved your poem and he sentiments it brought forth.
Posted by: Johna Ferguson | Friday, 28 February 2014 at 10:55 AM
Dean Joanne and Johna,
So grateful and gladdened when there is a response. So, from the very start, thank you so much. (lots of 'so's - sorry).
As the poet, I can say that there was and is no pain while writing or even remembering. But, in some mysterious way, a poem takes shape from a simple thought, memory or even a simple phrase. What follows is a flow - but a flow that has to be artistically worked and re-worked - or it's not a good poem.
I'm so happy if you are moved. I'm always amazed at the variations in response; people's thought patterns, everyone's interpretations.
It's undoubtedly the same for every art form. One man's poison is another man's etc.
In Sweden they have a funny saying which, translated means something like "Taste is like your rear end - all different shapes and sizes" (only it's a little more earthy than that).
Love the contacts!
Posted by: arlene corwin | Saturday, 01 March 2014 at 05:12 AM