Because we all want to write more poems.
inspiration
If there was a defining moment in my childhood,
It was the day I found my mother's typewriter
And the stack of onionskin paper next to it
Words in that elegant font that now seems so
Affected but back then it was all we had.
The clatter ding zip of line after line.
Short poems of one or two stanzas
Clever and sad, a mirror of her life of poverty
and laughter. Poems about her children,
Her mother, her fights with the church
Essays about her father, her return to college
As a mother of eight, as a housewife in the sixties.
She was my Erma Bombeck, she was my Dorothy Parker
She was Lucille Ball and Imogene Coca
A stone faced comic, a hapless romantic
Her singing style comparable to Jimmy Durante
Though in her mind, Pearl Bailey was her sister.
If you are going to fantasize, go all the way.
I wanted to be as good as she was
That's all I ever really wanted
Out of my literate efforts
To be compared favorably to an unpublished housewife
Who wrote in her basement after
Dinner while her children did the dishes.
- Neil McKay's Shared Poems
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Comments
Jennifer Dixey
March 9, 2012
Permalink
Love this!
Especially "hapless romantic" because it so perfectly expresses a character in only two words (and a play on "hopeless romantic" at that).
Clayton Medeiros
March 9, 2012
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Beautifully said and palpable
Beautifully said and palpable. Although I never met your mom, I feel I know her from your stories and your poetry reflects the heritage with great love and respect.
Clayton Medeiros
March 9, 2012
Permalink
Beautifully said and palpable
Beautifully said and palpable. Although I never met your mom, I feel I know her from your stories and your poetry reflects the heritage with great love and respect.