There aren't too many poems in which I can distinctly remember the moment of inspiration, but this is one of them. I was eating in a diner in Chapel Hill or maybe Raleigh, North Carolina with my best girlfriend from college, Meredith. I cannot remember the name of the joint... some chain... rather like a Denny's but not... We were there for breakfast on a Sunday. Meredith ordered her typical sweet tea and bacon, "floppy, please." Man, would she ever love Ecuadorian bacon- haha!
Getting back on track, a-hem... We were checking out and admiring this very prim, little Sunday school girl in her shiny, black Mary Jane's... and we both had a moment, musing is there anything more stereotypical about a little girl? So many of us had shiny, Mary Jane's at some point or other, and we freaking loved them! So, that's how this whole poem got started. It evolved as I included that image into another poem... then, I extracted it and made it into its own little poem. I hope you like. It is fun!
*I cannot get the white space to work with this blog so the format is really off. Oh well, this is the best I can do!
Getting back on track, a-hem... We were checking out and admiring this very prim, little Sunday school girl in her shiny, black Mary Jane's... and we both had a moment, musing is there anything more stereotypical about a little girl? So many of us had shiny, Mary Jane's at some point or other, and we freaking loved them! So, that's how this whole poem got started. It evolved as I included that image into another poem... then, I extracted it and made it into its own little poem. I hope you like. It is fun!
*I cannot get the white space to work with this blog so the format is really off. Oh well, this is the best I can do!
Chiffon
A four-year-old twirling in a diner foyer:
Spinning, spinning-
Arms up!
Pinwheel ceiling tiles,
Water stains
Rorschach
Work of art.
Spinning, spinning-
Arms down!
The roulette wheel blur of
Shiny, black
Mary Jane’s
Tip-tip-tapping
Around, around!
Chubby, baby arms riiiiiiise,
Spread wiiiiiiide
with abandon.
Ringlets bobbing, uncoiling… in… the
Pull of her gravit
y machine, a high-s
peed blender wi
thout a top-
Her giggles spray onto me.
Breathe in the fiery
Pollen- yellow, honey bee.
Donning sleepy
Grins, zombies gawk,
Hypnotized by the opening
And closing of the parasol-
The cotton candy pink,
Sunday school dress,
Sticky with chiffon, lace, ribbons
And chuckles that unfuuuuu
uuurrrrr
rrrrrrrl…
…retract.
Suddenly--- ---slingshot
Innocent bystanders.
Her giggles spray onto me.
Breathe in the fiery
Pollen- yellow, honey bee.
Sneeze and infectious
Laughter guns down
Any stubborn still standing.
©Copyright June 5, 2011 Joanna Brown
©Copyright June 5, 2011 Joanna Brown
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