Sunday, May 3, 2015

The making of Honey



The making of Honey

“Oh I is so tire honey”
My mama worked “in
clothes” that’s the way
she liked me to say it –
Once I peeked in after
school when I sat on
the bench in the front
of the store and waited
for that opening of the
door that would spill
her out. Once I peeked -
and there she was lining
up a row of shirts so -
straight and fine I could
have taken my grown-up
-engineer-self’s level to it
and a bubble would have
floated just perfectly -
Back then on that day –
could have been any day
“Oh I is so tire honey”
lingered in the air sweet
mysterious and sacred
as a Latin service I heard
once – ending with a bell
shimmering like a tear -
Everything come together
in the hot steamy waiting
to a discrete symbol -
A simple element on
the periodic chart of
our life together –
ever remembered 







52 comments:

  1. Lovely. A memory? Reminds me of peeking into the back door of a restaurant where my best friend's mom worked. Those memories do stick.

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    1. Hi there my lengthy reply to you ... posted incorrectly below Sannaa's comment

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    2. Thanks again - it is fictional - though perhaps came from some empathy with women and their hard work and impact on the children who wait and watch :)

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  2. Thank you - No, I often do not know where these pieces come from. I didn't think I was even going to write anything this morning. I suppose I can see that a word opens a door perhaps to the unconscious and then falls into a some sort of narrative which becomes the poem ... if I were to analzye why this one - the south and the mother/child etc. I suppose it might be that my mind has been filled with the events in Baltimore this week... This type of memory would be in no way related to my own childhood experience - then again I do believe (or think it is a wonderful belief) that we are all connected - so perhaps someone else's memory :) Thanks for the comment and apologies for the long explanation... Perhaps more than you wanted or needed to know :)

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  3. This sounds almost like glimpsing into a secret memory.. there are so many mysteries here...

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    1. Thank you Bjorn - that is a great compliment - see the comment about that I wrote to someone else who thought this a memory... Perhaps, but not my memories - perhaps a muse memory :)

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  4. It just dripped with magic from the first line...'Oh I is so tire honey'

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  5. Your poem is like a universal memory of our hard working mothers. Mine worked in a tomato plant, was tired every day. I related to this poem, though I'm not from the south. It's nice when poems just pop in our heads. It's the mystery of mind and spirit.

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    1. Thank you for the lovely comment - Most of my poems come this way - I agree a mystery of mind and spirit and perhaps - who knows? - universal collective unconscious :)

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  6. 'element of the periodic table of our life together' - i am absolutely spellbound

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    1. Thank you Suyash. Spellbound? My goodness - thank you so very much ! I am delighted that you enjoyed the poem - it is fictional - though perhaps came from some collective empathy with women and their hard work and impact on the children who wait and watch :)

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  7. Oh I can see them both, and hear the fatigue in the mother's voice. I resonate!

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    1. Thank you Sherry - a fictional piece with some real voices - perhaps speaking for all those fatigued women and the children they loved and influenced :)

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  8. Hard working mothers have such strong memories. I am glad you wrote this poem. I think it has a universal theme and a message many can resonate with.

    http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2015/04/where-im-from.html

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    1. Aww thank you Mary - yes I think you are correct this is a universal theme - the hard working of mothers wherever they may be

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  9. Oh my goodness! You and I both ended up in a clothes store, and yet we went different directions. Strange, isn't it, the way the poetic mind works?

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    1. Yes, we did ... and yes, strange mystic - magical and lovely :)

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  10. Your verse reminds me of some of my hubby's relatives who owned a material shop - I'm not sure if they were also tailor and seamstress. And I can imagine in their Eastern European accents - going about the business of running their shop. You have let me see through your gentle eyes.

    Thanks for visiting Sheila - that was #4 - there was a link there for the first three pieces.
    They are all only a page or so long. I am never sure which prompts I will use for the different series stories I have going. I will try to make a note to let you know when an addition pops up. Thank you.

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    1. Delighted to have called up some images of your husbands relatives - this is a fictional piece but I am sure it comes from some collective experiences we all share - yes, I did enjoy Sheila :)

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  11. How wonderful! So good in so many ways.

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    1. Thank you Gail - what a lovely comment - I am delighted that you enjoyed and stopped by to let me know :)

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  12. the mysterious and sacred latin service must have been very spiritual, or boring. hmmmm.... which one?

    My Brain is a Cheap Gadget That Spins

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    1. Tammy - seems as though the mystery and the vibrations of the pinging bell had some influence - fictional piece :)

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  13. “Oh I is so tire honey”...love it more when it becomes a refrain...

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  14. I enjoyed what you chose to show about your mom and the way you did it.

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    1. Thank you Gabriella - a fictional piece but perhaps a universal acknowledgment of all such mothers and the children who they influenced :)

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  15. "a bubble would have floated just perfectly"---oh how I love this!! What a poetic way to say what you wanted to say while also tying in your grown-up engineer's self.....so clever and lovely :-)

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  16. A character sketch, a mother daughter relationship. I like the contrast between working "in clothes" and as a carpenter or engineer with a balance. Does it balance? Waiting for the bell, being tired, knowing like clockwork that events unfold this way! Neat. Thank you, too, Dr. Pearl, for your insightful comment on my poem.

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    1. Thank you Susan for the considered careful reading - the sentiment of your last line still lingers :)

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    1. Fictional piece - perhaps a universal memory - thank you so very much :)

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  18. In a different voice, you still sound wonderful!

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  19. I hear a distant voice of a time when women's work was never done and hands were scars and calluses.
    Thanks for opening the door just a crack for us to look into this place.
    Moondustwriter

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    1. Thank you - actually a fictional piece into a time that resonates somehow for women as we acknowledge those who came before - Beautiful comment - Thsnk you

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  20. How important are those memories of our childhood past that recall how we were formed and who influenced our thinking and values. Recognizing the work and sacrifice your parents made to support the family. How beautiful this piece is.

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    1. Thank you - although this is a fictional piece - the acknowledgment of those that went before is universal - thank you again :)

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  21. I enjoyed this very much. I love seeing where different poets go with the same 12 words. Each so unique.

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  22. A perfect short story wrapped in a precious poem! Love the characters, the dialogue and the shared memories, and although we all have different ones, the common thread in each of our mothers working so very hard, doing their best, and living gracefully is binding.

    Poppy

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  23. Loved the metaphor of 'honey' ~ great memories....even fictional...it's interesting to get this glimpse ...

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  24. Perfectly written in a wonderful feeling and style.
    ZQ

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  25. Exquisite moment to preserve in amber--if only by color--the tiredness, the perfect line up of shirts, the level with its bubble--you as honey. Powerful poem.

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  26. The lessons in memories, to always live.

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