“Moss Piglet’s” next theme is “home” due 12/6/23 for Jan. 2024 issue. What do you think of this — it’s a pantoum. I completely rewrote an older poem; then decided to make it a pantoum—the repetition is effective, I think. (my mother, the less-than-fulfilled homemaker of the 1950s.) Should I have 1958 in the title? or does that just date me? (And should I drop “History was her passion” — is that too much telling?) But I love “craving college”
Displaced Homemaker - 1958
Wearing pedal pushers and a red bandana tied ‘round her head
Mother pushed the dust mop along the green linoleum floor,
kitchen to dining room, down the hall to the bedrooms and back.
She made grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch.
Mother pushed the dust mop along the green linoleum floor.
She cooked Aunt Minnie’s meatballs in cream gravy over mashed potatoes.
She fixed grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch.
She made our favorite spaghetti sauce, puffing in the pressure cooker.
Mother cooked Aunt Minnie’s meatballs in cream gravy over mashed potatoes.
She let us taste the blue cheese party dip with sherry in it before company came.
She made our favorite spaghetti sauce, puffing in the pressure cooker
while listening to “University of the air” on the radio – history her passion, craving college.
She let us taste the blue cheese party dip with sherry in it before company came
and pushed the dust mop kitchen to dining room, down the hall and back
while listening to “University of the Air” on the radio – history her passion, craving college,
wearing pedal pushers and a red bandana tied ‘round her head.