‘Your mother’s house has no windows
and her clock was missing numbers;
looks like dementia,’ my father
said. Four years on, he’s dead; she’s 91
living at home alone, burning
the bottoms clean out of pots. ‘None
left for you to inherit,’ she says. Today
her slow cooker’s taking too long
to cook corned beef, there’s a summer
storm and according to her, they’ve turned
the power down, reduced its potency,
‘only in Henderson, mind.’ Everything
is political or conspiracy. ‘In Remuera,’
ovens burn hot as ever. ‘Philip says
the bad weather follows us wherever
we go, ‘I say. ‘Follows him, not you,
don’t you take the blame,’ she responds
not missing a beat. Makes me wonder,
if she was pretending all along,
deliberately omitting windows
and numbers in the doctor’s clinic.
Dottiness being one way to escape.
Diane Brown
Diane Brown’s publications include two collections of poetry (Before The Divorce We Go To Disneyland, Tandem 1997—winner of the NZSA Best First Book of Poetry at the Montana Book Awards 1997 ; Learning to Lie Together, Godwit 2004), two novels (If The Tongue Fits, Tandem 1999; Eight Stages of Grace, Vintage 2002—a verse novel which was a finalist in the Montana Book Awards 2003), a travel memoir (Liars and Lovers, Vintage 2004) and a prose/poetic work, Here Comes Another Vital Moment, Godwit 2006. She is currently writing a novel, Hooked and is the co-ordinator and tutor for Creative Writing Otago.
http://www.dianebrown.co.nz/poetry.html
Return to the Tuesday Poetry Blog and dive into the side bar for an incredible variety of edible poems. And be sure to read editor for the week Helen Rickerby’s choice; a selection from Helen Heath’s new book, Graft.
http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.co.nz/
Great poem, thanks Diane and Helen for sharing this. I love that ‘dottiness’ also evoked for me ellipsis (…).
Thanks for visiting, Mariana. Dottiness is uplifting in this poem isn’t it. And re ellipsis…thankyou for reminding me what it’s called. Another lovely word.:-)
… not missing a beat. I love that part. There is a kind of lightness to this poem, despite its starting (and finishing) point. Thanks for sharing this here, Helen. Really enjoyed the poem and your story of meeting Diane and her poetry.
Yes lightness for a possibly difficult topic. Thanks for enjoying Michelle 🙂
Thanks for sharing this poem – I like the dottiness and the way it is framed, but most especially the way it ended on the powerful idea of escape.
Thanks Alicia. Yes simple but powerful.
Really enjoyed this, Helen–thanks to you and to Diane for featuring here.
Thanks for the visit Helen 🙂
I love the ‘artistic dates’, Helen – what a great idea to name these acts! I loved the rambling voices, the backwards and forwards, the wittiness of the mother voice. Wonderful stuff. Thanks for introducing me to Diane’s work!
Thanks Elizabeth. Yes Diane’s mum has wonderful wit doesn’t she!
This makes two fine, loving poems about elderly mothers I have read in the past few days: this one, and Kay Cooke’s poem about her mother at http://andbottlewasher.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/mothers-day.html
Both wonderful celebrations of Mother’s Day!
Thanks Tim. And for the link to Kay’s Mother’s Day tribute to HER mum.
It’s a gem 🙂
There’s an unusual amount of direct speech in this poem, isn’t there? Almost like a little play. Seems that ignoring the clock and having her own ideas about weather keeps this woman powering on (despite the conspiracies)! Thank you for posting.
Hi Penelope, yes that’s a good point. It is like a mini play isn’t it. Diane’s mum certainly has personality power. 🙂