Peaches in July

[susanstinson]

Praise for the fat old ladies.
Praise our bristles.
Praise our groaning in the morning
as we negotiate our nightgowns,
appliances and pills.

Praise the unquenchable carnality
of our coughs, full of moist depths,
and the way our mouths hang open
and our faces converge in gatherings
of ineffectual concentration
as we give another round of dominoes
our (impure? because, after all,
competititive and human) best thoughts.

We lose, of course, but play again.
The nightgown tears on the seam above the breast,
but we wear it, still, unmended,
while young women make big curls
in their hair with juice cans,
the results glossy and time-consuming,
as if the war were never over and
victory gardens were all lucky girls might sow.



Lake Buchanan, TX 2006

Comments

[angiereedgarner.livejournal.com]

Amazing-- thank you.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

how wonderful. i'm definitely there (sans dominoes).

[jasonelvis.livejournal.com]

I'm completely distracted from work by this poem Susan. I keep reading it over and over. I love the way you've painted a picture. Each time I read it I see something else while at the same time notice all the things that aren't there. Who are the girls? Who's the domino opponent? And the last line sort of haunts me "and
victory gardens were all lucky girls might sow." because it reminds me of catching something your Mum says in hushed tones to one of her friends when you're a kid that you nearly understand.

[wauwau.livejournal.com]

Oooooh BEAUTIFUL! Wonderful imagery. And the flow reminds me of one of my favorite poems in the universe:


Peaches
by Peter Davison

A mouthful of language to swallow:
stretches of beach, sweet clinches,
breaches in walls, bleached branches;
britches hauled over haunches;
hunches leeches, wrenched teachers.

What English can do: ransack
the warmth that chuckles beneath
fuzzed surfaces, smooth velvet
richness, splashy juices.
I beseech you, peach,
clench me into the sweetness
of your reaches.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow. Thank you so much for posting this -- it's gorgeous. I love the wry intergenerational solidarity and the imagery. What a very excellent way to start the LJ day... and also the Davison peaches poem! Bonus.

[charlottecooper.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful poem. I feel transported away from my depressing desk over to Texas, like a guest at your family do.

Thank You!

[crazycrone.livejournal.com]

So fanfuckintastic. I must save it in my files.
As a fat bristly old groaner, I salute your brilliance.

[beccawrites.livejournal.com]

hey, thanks susan. i want to make plans for when we're in sf, ok?

[firecat]

l o v e