Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Preludes










The Preludes

The Preludes were playing,
on the Victrola in the living room.  The rising notes
rolled on drifts of hot summer filling the room as she sat on the edge of Mama's bed,
playing with the tip of her pointer finger as Mama did something with the hot iron,
flicking a wrist over and over to fix those tiny tinted waves in her hair that Mama'd
lied about and told the grocery boy were 'natural as the sea tide,'

The Preludes were almost through playing,
as Mama finished up with gentle tissue kisses from her crimson shiny lips and stood
sighing back looking at a split in her stockings right there near her ankle and
quietly walked fast through the sound and straight for and out the front door.  
If  she hadn't stopped day-dreaming and gotten up and run down the hall,
as grandma would say in the "Nick of time" she would have missed
Mama skipping sideways down the skinny front path into a car
waiting and missed Mama laughing loud and long melting in the summer night into
a man's matching laugh and everything getting lost in the engine growling, as soon as Mama shut the door and she would have never seen the car quick roar away, tail-lights shimmying down and off the street before she could even wave.

The Preludes were finished
when she went back in
the living room was quiet except for the scratchy sound of the Victrola and Grandma's steady snores on the couch for company, where she cuddled up into Grandma's soft side and snuggled into a doughy Grandma arm same as a feather pillow except that it curved around to embrace her, knowing
she was there even from the depths of a splay-legged summer heated sleep.
And then it was quiet.
Just both of them breathing another night together
as the Victrola clicked off
automatically.




28 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your use of the Wordle Words here and all the happenings during the time the Preludes were playing. And then after all that she slept -- that made me laugh!

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    1. Ah Mary - I love the way different readers interpret a poem differently. I am delighted that you found laughter in these words. Thank you so much for stopping by:)

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  2. Wow a Victrola! Hubby used to work for the now defunct RCA - I actually did a hook rug of Nipper listing to the Victrola. Nice story. Now you've left us wanting to know what happened on that 'date'.

    Thanks for your early morning visit - and for not pointing out a spelling error that has since been corrected. I'm not really an early morning person. :)

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    1. Ah Jules ... I don't know whether to be chagrined or simply delighted that your poetry rather than my proofing carried the morning. (I did not notice your spelling error!). Thank you for stopping by (I too am not a morning person and wake just to post these poems early on)... It seems that this scene that just rose out the words seems to have peaked some interest. I very much appreciate your wanting to know more and your taking the time to stop by and comment :)

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  3. Sweet and reminiscent. Nice contribution, Pearl. I love the image of Mama readying herself.

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    1. Oh Brenda - Your comments are always so very welcome - and this one so very kind - big grins at your "loving" and image of mine. Thank you so very much for sharing. :) and as always thank you making these weekly inspirations possible. I am forever, in your debt.

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  4. This is wonderful. I could hear the music and see the scene so clearly. Well written.

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    1. Aww... to be able to have you hear the music moves me beyond words! Thank you! :)

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  5. A lovely prose piece, Pearl. The ending is beautiful.

    Pamela

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    1. Hi there Pamela - DId a little reworking ... Delighted you enjoyed the original draft.
      Thank you as always for stopping by and for your very much appreciated comments :)

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  6. Delicious mixture of adult and child.
    Lovely point of view. The skipping transferred from young to older. Very clever.

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    1. Aw Aprille - I like trying on these varying POV's in other genres - Delighted that this worked for you here. Thank you so very much for stopping by :)

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  7. Three generations caught in tiny but vivid details. Will she live out the dreams her mother and grandmother chased, while listening to the preludes?

    Elizabeth
    http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/only-an-attempted-wordle-murder/

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  8. What happens next?? Got me wanting to hear more!

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    1. Big smiles.... I have little to no idea where this came from - but could certain weave something about what could happen next :) Thank you so much ... one of the most desired comments to receive is someone wanting more! Thank you for stopping by :)

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  9. Beautiful, lovely, a painting, with sound, using wordl words.

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    1. Oh Willow. You have no way of really knowing how much your particular comment touched me as the daughter of an artist - could be no higher accolade - Since I was a very young child I (as so many poets) have been striving to paint with "picture words." Thank you so very much :)

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    1. Oh Rosemary - Your appreciation means such a great deal to me. Thank you for stopping by and your wonderful comment !

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  11. "as Mama finished up with gentle tissue kisses from her crimson shiny lips and stood/sighing back looking at a split"

    Great flow by carrying the short "i" sound (finish, tissue, kisses, crimson, lips, split).

    "where she cuddled up into Grandma's soft side and snuggled into a doughy Grandma arm same as a feather pillow"

    Quite a clever comparison!

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    1. Aw Jack thank you so much for your careful reading and your appreciation of the flow of those short "i" sounds. Delighted that you enjoyed along with the grandma comparisons. :) Thank you so much for stopping by!

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  12. Lovely.
    BTW - where do you get your wordle words from? The place I used to get them from doesn't do them anymore. I miss them!

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    1. Hi

      Thanks Marian.... I love The Sunday Whirl which is a site administered by Brenda Warren... Terrific "Wordle" words and a lovely group of poets! There are few things (aside from looooong ago nursing baby that could have me happily waking to post my poem early on a Sunday morning). If you request Brenda will send you the words on Friday or Saturday to be posted on Sunday. GREAT fun. Looking forward to seeing you there!

      :)
      pearl

      http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/

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  13. I notice bit a sadness in the poem, Mom out running with the "boys" and she is left honme. She happy but Oh I could be wrong too.

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  14. Ah Cathy - yes I did feel her melancholy ... as Mama running out and not even turning as she waves... Thank you so much for sharing this little girl's bit of sadness and for stopping by this big girl's site - Please come back again :)

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  15. PKP,

    I had just settled down to your words, when the ending arrived all too soon. Great visual images and a need to read much more:)

    Eileen

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    1. Awww thank you Eileen - apologies if you felt short changed - delighted, of course, that you would like more... Thank you so very much for stopping by! :)

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  16. A wonderful slice of childhood. What a wordle - you have triumphed.

    I came for today's wordle, but your link came up "the page you are looking for does not exist" weird or what?

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