For Cheryl, as I try to write her play
I wasn’t waiting for a call to arms.
I wasn’t going home to bed, to cry.
Though you could recapitulate the terms,
I wasn’t sure that you could tell me why.
I didn’t hear what jangled in your head,
What riverbed dried out between your ears.
And nothing was the way your mother said.
Nothing held together through the tears.
After death, and life and death are done,
Will you and I remember mallomars?
How will I know your face without the sun?
Or will I recognize it in the stars?
But I’ve already started to forget
The silent tears have numbed to dull regret.
I enjoyed that…
Novelique–I’m glad to have found your blog, though I see you didn’t post between April and January. I’ve just started a blog, Mattie’s Pillow, and would also love your feedback.
Is this poem part of your Persephone play? It reads like a conversation between quarreling friends or sisters, but putting it in context of myth works, too. What are mallomars?
I write mostly poetry, these days, and find sonnets challenging and rewarding, though the process of writing in form feels clunky. I started as a short story writer, but the part of fiction that’s like gossip began to feel too uncomfortable to me. I’m working on a series of essays or meditations on the horse.
Mattie’s Pillow is a virtual exploration of a dream of mine–a Jacob’s Pillow of all arts, with horses.
Good luck with the play and poems!
–Cindy
What a good question: mallomars are one of two candies that i confused as a child – they are these biscuits with a mound of marshmallow and chocolate shell. Mallocups were the real find – much rarer. They were gooey marshmallow and coconut inside a chocolate shell that resembled a reese’s peanut butter cup. I haven’t had either since I was about six and, frankly, I’m kind of skeezed out by marshmallow. But when I was little and everyone around me had a sweet tooth, they were a big deal. I especially associate them with my aunt – about whom I wrote this poem. I wrote this while I was thinking about the Persephone play and having a hard time writing it. I actually found it today when looking through some old drafts and liked it more than I thought I would and decided to finish it. Thanks for reading! I’ll check out your blog.