Friday, August 31, 2007

Poetry Friday: On turning a T-shirt


On turning a T-shirt
right side out

How many times
has this shirt been pulled
over your head, reversed
by the thrust
of your arms, thrown
into the hamper, washed,
dried, presented inside-
out to me for
folding?

Should I? Turn it,
I mean, or should it go
neatly squared
seams out
into your
drawer for you
to right
in the morning
dark?

Do you mark
my turning?

–or does
absolution
unfold
against your skin
and dress
you
unawares?

---Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)

Poetry Friday is hosted at Mentor Texts, Read Alouds, and More


14 comments:

  1. Very nice. I especially love the line, "Do you mark my turning?" as well as the absolution imagery.

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  2. Did I ever tell you how much a fan I am? Love, love, love the "shape" of this poem.

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  3. ooh, another good one. Thanks, Sara.

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  4. Lovely. Love it.

    And I wonder too whether or not to pull the right pants leg back through, and whether to turn all those cycling shorts to rights. Usually I do it without thinking. Funny how, when I think about it, I get angry and feel slighted -- and how hubby thinks not a thing. And he doesn't mark my turning, anymore than he marks his own.

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  5. " or does absolution unfold against your skin and dress you unawares?"

    Love the powerful last stanza. Your poems turn my mind inside out. Thanks for keeping my brain in tune!

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  6. I really admire how you take such simple subject matter and make them artistic.

    Great Work!

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  7. This is great. What a great metaphor for all those petty domestic grievances.

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  8. Thanks, everyone. I didn't know if a "concrete" poem would keep its formatting in Blogger, but this one seemed to hold its form okay.

    Kelly, glad to know it's not just me. I actually wrote this one several years ago after doing the laundry and I WAS irritated, but as usual, the poem took hold of me and forced me to see all the many, many silly things I've been absolved of without my ever knowing. For which I'm beyond grateful.

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  9. Wonderful, Sara. I can just picture the moment.

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  10. I am not the one who does laundry in our house and now I have so much more appreciation for the one who does have that job...

    Thank you so much for this beauty.

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  11. Sara,

    I love the original poems you post here. I look forward to reading more!

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  12. I do love this. It makes me glad I didn't out out one of my own this week; I couldn't pull off anything like this, npi.

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  13. We wrap our loved ones in all kinds of unspoken gestures, don't we?!?!

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  14. This is deLIGHTful. I'm going to go do a load of laundry now. With pleasure...

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