Claudia in the kitchen Doing dishes leaning heavy over The mesh of scrambles eggs and sour milk. Steam rises like a mirror As her youth dissolves Through the cracks in the porcelain.
This poems is tightly crafted, fitting for the subject matter, and the tight spaces we have to fit between in our socially constructed gender roles. Personalizing the experience to one, Claudia, while also ritualizing it and thereby expanding the scope of the commentary, is beautifully balanced in this poem. As always, masterful stuff, Brandi. I am always amazed by your work.
I agree with Edward. This poem is very tightly crafted. And, I dig the metaphor of the sink, old food, and aging. No matter what, it all goes down the drain, and yet, there are so many rituals aimed at holding on to youth and/or the appearance thereof. Poor Claudia.
There's always one line or image that stands out to me in your poems and the lines here are "Steam rises like a mirror / As her youth dissolves." This makes me stop and reread the lines to figure how it fits in the greater context of the poem. A mirror lends itself to reflection which is what Claudia is doing here but just like her youth it has dissolved. It's like a figurative pun without being a literal pun. I envy you for this if what I wrote just made sense.
I remember Tim asking you about a possible collection brewing and I figure this seems part of it. Thanks for sharing this.
3 comments:
This poems is tightly crafted, fitting for the subject matter, and the tight spaces we have to fit between in our socially constructed gender roles. Personalizing the experience to one, Claudia, while also ritualizing it and thereby expanding the scope of the commentary, is beautifully balanced in this poem. As always, masterful stuff, Brandi. I am always amazed by your work.
I agree with Edward. This poem is very tightly crafted. And, I dig the metaphor of the sink, old food, and aging. No matter what, it all goes down the drain, and yet, there are so many rituals aimed at holding on to youth and/or the appearance thereof. Poor Claudia.
There's always one line or image that stands out to me in your poems and the lines here are "Steam rises like a mirror / As her youth dissolves." This makes me stop and reread the lines to figure how it fits in the greater context of the poem. A mirror lends itself to reflection which is what Claudia is doing here but just like her youth it has dissolved. It's like a figurative pun without being a literal pun. I envy you for this if what I wrote just made sense.
I remember Tim asking you about a possible collection brewing and I figure this seems part of it. Thanks for sharing this.
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