Waiting Around (after Walking Around by Pablo Neruda) by Trish Hopkinson

 
It so happens, I am tired of being a woman.
And it happens while I wait for my children to grow
into the burning licks of adulthood. The streaks
of summer sun have gone,
 
drained between gaps into gutters,
and the ink-smell of report cards and recipe boxes
cringes me into corners. Still I would be satisfied
if I could draw from language
the banquet of poets.
 
If I could salvage the space in time
for thought and collect it
like a souvenir. I can no longer
be timid and quiet, breathless
 
and withdrawn.
I can’t salve the silence.
I can’t be this vineyard
to be bottled, corked,
cellared, and shelved.
 
That’s why the year-end gapes with pointed teeth,
growls at my crow’s feet, and gravels into my throat.
It claws its way through the edges of an age
I never planned to reach
 
and diffuses my life into dullness–
workout rooms and nail salons,
bleach-white sheets on clotheslines,
and treacherous photographs of younger me
at barbecues and birthday parties.
 
I wait. I hold still in my form-fitting camouflage.
I put on my strong suit and war paint lipstick
and I gamble on what’s expected.
And what to become. And how
to behave: mother, wife, brave.
 

–originally published by Wicked Banshee Press. Issue #2 Fall 2014.

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This wonderful poem was submitted by Trish Hopkinson, who keeps us all (including me) in the loop of where to submit, open mics, call in shows and answers writing questions.

Here is her writing page:  http://trishhopkinson.com/

You can also connect with Trish on Facebook and Twitter 🙂