Linens and Things

Beveled Cracked Mirrors

Sets of dishes for every contingency, linens and silver and finery
Dinner parties, open houses, art, music, dance, concerts and travel, all the best friends, junior league, fierceness and fragility.

"You are a reflection of me" the phrase spoken as a warning in lieu of wooden spoons. Enough of a deterrent for mischief for me.

I never needed to be spanked, she said, with humor,
I was harder on myself than a parent ever could be.

The best of times were unexpected.
occurring during the ogre's "business trips"
Letting our hair down
Let's not pretend days
Missing a flight, making the best of things,
the wonder of jiffy pop and ginger ale,
folding clothes staying up late with
Carol Burnette or Bewitching Samantha
Paper dolls smiles and laughter
Peanut butter toast and oatmeal raisin cookies
Relaxed


Keeping her company,
being the little helper,
being mistaken for her sister,
I lived for these moments

Uh oh, Beefaronio,
was a cue for laughter from Mother, from Sister
long before
Woodpecker's knocked on my deja vu brain
a study of plot and thought so eerily true
Blackberry bushes
Castles and turrets
Sainted, sad, stunning, mother
painting pretty pictures
placing trinkets on top of and in front of
unworthy foundations
dressing it up
Homecoming queen
tortured with choices
based on appearances
Paying for
but not accepting blame
for poor choices in love
pride and prejudice
ruling every thought
wasted beauty
wasted joy
buckets full of tears
scented with potpourri
The princess
laying blankets
of denial over an empty bed
some things aren't worth fixing saving
but she tried

I almost forgive her
for doing what she could
to make the most of
a let's pretend story.

Plot lines:
Foreign conspiracies
Silent strong absent fathers-
prone to whim
prone to heartbreak
Evil ogres
Betrayal
Truth

Love the illusion
Hate the pretension
Weep for the loss
Ache for the truth
Accept her Still Life

with sadness and joy when the original little princess
sweeps away the dust, the layers in her cabin at the lake
and laughs and loves
and embraces all that is good and right in the world.
Princesses don't need accoutrements,
they need love.

I am not a reflection of you
I am a in part, a result of you
Thank you for your lessons
for wanting the best for me.
I forgive you for not knowing what's best for me
and I love you, princess mom