[stylist] Memorial Day

[Lynda Lambert via stylist]

I wrote this memorial day poem in 2000.
Writting from my memories of family gatherings on Memorial Days, and mingled with a "Memorable" event in our family. I will cut and paste it below, and attach the copy of it for those who may find the cut and paste jumbled.  It is in my favorite form, the sestina.  Lynda


Memorial Day - A Sestina for Multiple Voices

 

In my mother's kitchen my aunts each begin to speak

about family achievements and God's great mercy.

They hover over the wood table. They desire

to share hot casseroles wrapped in linen towels.  With a spirit

of joy  they cut into the fresh-baked apple pie.  They sing

praises of their children and pass  new photos to show a truth.

 

My aunt's pastor  brought  her a  truth

not  pleasing to speak 

about recent news from  Minnesota.  He'll sing

praises about her daughter's life.  He'll speak of God's mercy.

My aunt's  spirit

becomes confused like an old woman's diminished desire.

 

My daughter's love was my only desire

but I need to know the truth.

Tell me again about her spirit

dashed by an unfaithful lover.  I speak 

about my daughter's life that is over.  Mercy

is about a dirge to sing.

 

Group your words into stanzas - make a poem sing

The indentation of lines can vary as you desire

Single words can occupy entire lines - like, "mercy"

You can break up your words into the shape of truth

Allow the shape to be the message you speak

Use unconventional punctuation as a path to the spirit

 

Near the body the two women  felt  no spirit 

how could they sing

in this cold place?  They couldn't speak

of  work,  home, or desire

for new clothing to hang in closets or the truth

about unopened birthday cards and her need for mercy.

 

My aunt holds a photo and  prays  for mercy

She flicks away  dust with a wipe of  shattered spirit

This year its a more remote truth -

no picnics in my mother's kitchen.  No voices to sing

around a wood table.  My mother's only desire

is for   visitors who come to speak

  

 O, God!  You are proved right as you speak.  Grant me a willing spirit.

Have mercy on me, O, God!  Let my tongue sing

on Memorial Day.  Let me desire wisdom and innermost truth.

 

 

                        Copyright, Lynda J. Lambert: August 2000. All rights reserved.

 

Lynda McKinney Lambert, MFA
Artist, Educator, Author
104 River Road, Ellwood City, PA 16117
http://www.lyndalambert.com

"Human beings are creatures who conceal an interior of uncharted chaos which lies beneath the surface reality"James Baldwin, The Creative Life (1962)

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