Sunday, January 15, 2017

January 15, 2017 The Sunday Wordle #282/ Tiny Stitches --Poets United Poets Pantry

Wordle 282:

Tiny Stitches

as a girl         my mother and my grandmother              taught me to stitch

my grandmother             a quilter                            always on the back of her chair

hung the scrap bag      she would sit and rock               with her tiny stitches

create little squares and triangles     to be put into a quilt      she was known and admired

by all who knew her       for her tiny stitches             following the drawn pencil lines

circles and squares          a blanket of warmth                         based on geometry



as alice walker said of her mother        she was an artist                in her flower garden

at that time                most women were not encouraged                   to create paintings

so they created gardens               made quilts                         and nurtured their families

perhaps i am an artist         because the women before me       didn't think they could be

weren't allowed        sometimes a women could work for a man      paint the backgrounds

but weren't encouraged        to make their own statements             or paint what they liked



blue ribbons aren't often awarded to        (just) mothers                      who hauled water

singed the feathers from the chickens        cooked sunday dinner      woman would become

the author of their own destinies        claiming what was their's         often considered shrill

as if after a long sleep                 they are wakening           they would climb to the peak

break the glass ceiling        often forgetting what women before them     have gone through

making their lives possible     possible to have a sense of themselves         without apology

January 15, 2017








12 comments:

C.C. said...

This line sends shivers down my spine because of how poignant it feels: "perhaps i am an artist because the women before me didn't think they could be"

ZQ said...

Another wonderful "quilt" of words.
ZQ

brudberg said...

If the family had wealth women where encouraged to do some art... my grandmother painted porcelain.. we have many of her pieces still...

said...

Wow. There are a lot of very powerful lines in this:

"a blanket of warmth based on geometry"

"perhaps i am an artist because the women before me didn't think they could be"

"often forgetting what women before them have gone through

making their lives possible possible to have a sense of themselves without apology"

Anonymous said...

You make so many salient points in this one piece, it would take a full essay to really do it justice. Gotta wonder what is so frightening about us. We've had just over fifty years to begin even scratching the surface of that mystery. Not much against all those centuries. But, maybe just enough that we won't go gently into whatever 'good night' they now have planned.

Elizabeth

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I straddled both generations - saw the lives of my grandma and her friends, lived some early programmed years as a young married (when I felt older than I do now), and then came awake during the women's liberation movement in the 70's. Another huge leap to seeing a woman run for President. Wow, we have come a long way! I drove my home economics teacher crazy as I COULD not sew! Even now, when I am forced to mend something, the stitches are huge.

Old Egg said...

I was lucky to have strong women in my family. Mother of course then a feisty grandma, ambitious aunts, achieving cousin and determined wife; so I rather liked the lot of them including those others that got away!

Jae Rose said...

To make a life for ourselves - without apology - is perhaps the best we can achieve.. i love how you reflect art as always being present in women's lives.. wherever we can make it

signed...bkm said...

Love this Annell, as a quilter, a mother and a once career woman I can so relate to all the pieces of this poem. Our lives are stitches hand sewn together to make a piece of art - sometimes unrecognizable by others sometimes celebrated. You are an accomplished artist and stand on your own. Thank you sharing this piece and your art with the world...bkm

Susan said...

How wonderful! ALl of our achievements may have been bolstered by the female makers of little stitches in squares and triangles, the renderers of broad backgrounds that foregrounds so badly need.

Theresa Milstein said...

Nice weaving of history. I especially liked this part:

blue ribbons aren't often awarded to (just) mothers who hauled water singed the feathers from the chickens cooked sunday dinner woman would become the author of their own destinies

Jamshed Azmi said...

To make a life for ourselves - without apology. Very interesting post. Thanks for this.

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