"Rose"
I'm a prim and proper gal
I know my place
crimping a pie crust over sweet cinnamon apples
bathing babies in the washtub on the kitchen table
sitting next to my Joe in the pew on Sunday mornings
crimping a pie crust over sweet cinnamon apples
bathing babies in the washtub on the kitchen table
sitting next to my Joe in the pew on Sunday mornings
And yet…
I don't want anyone
to think me staid or stodgy
So when Verla shows up
in front of my house
in a model T,
in front of my house
in a model T,
no, that's not right,
when Verla shows up
driving a car
and says, "Come on Rose,
we're going to lunch,"
I call to Joe
and tell her sure,
and tell her sure,
and get my hat
and my pocket book
and my pocket book
and my white gloves
just like any proper lady would
and then I climb in
right behind Mary Katherine,
and Gloria
and even Ruth
who really is staid and stodgy
and we all pose
for a photograph
right behind Mary Katherine,
and Gloria
and even Ruth
who really is staid and stodgy
and we all pose
for a photograph
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
I am the captain of my soul.
(C) Carol Wilcox, 2016
3 comments:
I love picturing each of these ladies (you made them so individual with the names -- love Verla...I have a Verta in my past!) putting on their finest and leaving behind the housework to go (where? would a downtown hotel serve lunch? or a cafe?) out to lunch.
I love how this story flows as a poem, or maybe how the poem flows like a story. In either case, the eye of social observation through folksy storytelling works like a charm.
And the last stanza ... perfect.
Kevin
What a wonderful poem. Carol. I agree with Mary Lee (those names and the specific details make this so enthralling. I feel as if I know these people. And I agree with Kevin, too, that the last line is so perfect. Captains, if only for an afternoon. Historically, too, I can really imagine that the car might have helped people feel that way, too.
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