Saturday, November 17, 2007

Sunday Scribblings - I Carry (A Photo and a Poem)

I must be feeling brave. Here's a photo of what I really carry in my purse (click here for notes):


This week's Sunday Scribblings promt is "I Carry."

Here's a poem I wrote today. I teach writing poetry to my class,
and this was a good exercise in how hard it is.


Bag Ladies

We went to dinner,
some new restaurant we all wanted to try,
hanging our purses on the tops of designer chairs.
We ordered tapas and tried the red wine
the sommelier recommended.

We toasted our glasses and pulled out photos of our kids, saying
“How they’ve grown! Where does the time go?”
Gretchen pulled out a silver compact touched up her lips with her latest pink.
I caught her,
while she unconsciously brushed the growing lines around her eyes.

Stacy reached into her purse,
discretely to everyone but me,
and popped several pills
which she swallowed with her Merlot,
confirming what I already dreaded.

I glanced at Caroline’s purse
overflowing with pieces of her -
receipts, cosmetics, candy, multiple to do lists, volunteer work, a book, and toys for her kids.
She looked up, blushed, and confessed,
“I live in fear of being called up for Let’s Make a Deal.”

I glanced at my own purse and wondered
what the purse I carry said about me,
what secret it was holding inside.
Ashamed, I wondered, did I max out my credit cards on a retail therapy trip to Target?
Waiter, check please.

14 comments:

Jean said...

Hiiiii!!!
I came upon your blog by chance, while I was browsing through different blogs... and got caught with yours and the way you have with words!!!
I just adored this poem of yours!!!
I am a teacher as well, at a bilingual school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and teach Literature, English Language and Methods of Study... and I write some as well.
I will surely be droping by your blog often!
have a great Sunday!

Jo said...

I really liked this poem! It has lovely movement and the wry observations made me smile!

Linda Jacobs said...

Perfect example of showing and not just telling! All the details really add up to a great picture. I also teach a poetry-writing class (to high schoolers) and getting the kids to SHOW is the hardest thing. Mostly, they just want to tell how much they love their boyfriends or how mad they are at the world, etc.

I really enjoyed this poem!

Becca said...

I enjoyed this poem so much - you created some great word pictures, and I could imagine myself in the scene. It made think about some of my own friends :)

Well done!

sister AE said...

I like the poem a lot.

thorns said...

I liked the way your poem had times when it was more serious and times when it was light-hearted. And that is a really cute ending line.(laughs)

Tumblewords: said...

Great idea! Love the concept of defining your dinner companions by what they carried.

paisley said...

this was really fun... made me wish you could tell me more.....

June said...

Great post. I enjoyed your writing style a lot. I look forward to reading more of your posts when I have more time.

Thanks for stopping by Spatter and leaving a comment.

Forgetfulone said...

You are brave! The picture! That's great. I also thoroughly enjoyed the poem.

gautami tripathy said...

I like the title Bag Ladies. Very relatable poem too.

Tinker said...

Great poem! Our purses do say a lot about us, don't they? Yours looks so nice - very neat and organized.

Unknown said...

Nice job.
Why do we let our purses reveal so much about us but our mothers always told us to wear clean underwear in case we had an accident!

Jen said...

Great poem. It really tells a story.

I see you have a Moleskine in your purse. I just bought my first. Do you use yours for poetry?