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Open Poetry #47
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JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2011-03-09 07:27 AM


a farmwife
thin as a rail, eyes sunken
dull, no life spark there
when she speaks
she knows not what she speaks of
talks of crop failure
flooding in the spring
tornadoes
always has that haunted look
about her
sometimes when she knows what to speak of
she remains silent
her man
a good man
toiled sunup to sundown
trying to make it all work
but more bills came
than cash
bank getting testy
one hot summer afternoon
after a long night
staring at the ceiling
she poured herself a bitter cup of
despair
emptied the shelves of canned goods
sat at the table
shed her face mask
to reveal the real one
the one she's kept hidden from everyone
all these years
picked up her husband's
nine millimeter
walked outside shooting at anything that moved
missed the hound and the chickens
kept shooting
walking toward where her husband
was mending a fence
walked up to him
pointed the nine millimeter
toward his chest
pulled the trigger
it clicked
out of bullets
she had to go away
husband hanging onto the farm
but the desire isn't there anymore
goes to see her every other Saturday
while their daughter
lights fires in places they know nothing about



~ After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, "No hablo ingles." ~

© Copyright 2011 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
1 posted 2011-03-09 07:39 AM


That very desperation was very apparent in the dirty thirties...and still today, such stressors occur frequently. All over the world.

Vivid writing, Jerry.


s1nfully_1nn0c3nt
Senior Member
since 2003-10-26
Posts 1105
Watertown, NY
2 posted 2011-03-09 07:57 AM


A sad tale, but a very vivid one. I could picture all of it playing out. Always a pleasure m'friend.

-Trina
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
3 posted 2011-03-09 08:15 AM


Hello Sunshine. Yes, that was the norm not the exception in the thirties. It still goes on today, but not, of course, as much.

Thanks Trina for your nice comment.

~ After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, "No hablo ingles." ~

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
4 posted 2011-03-09 08:35 AM


You captured well the way desparation grows...in the past I have felt that very same way (sans the shotgun). Because you described the desparation from the perspective of a woman is even more impressive. Got to love it!
Lori

Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
5 posted 2011-03-09 09:38 AM


A sad tale you relate here, Jerry, but you've done it well as usual.  I think there are many women like that in the world but they probably just withdraw within and pretend being educated as they are in the ways of responsibility, etc.

Helen

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
6 posted 2011-03-09 10:13 AM


Appreciate your comments, Lori. As far as getting inside a woman's thoughts, women are just men without most of the braggadocio. Men can be sensitive, although we try desperately to hide it for the most part.

Helen, women being educated "in the ways of responsibility" is a truism if I have ever heard one. Thank you for being here.

~ After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, "No hablo ingles." ~

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