a cento poem study group, (Read Write Poem Challenge #3)
inspired by the cento poems of Li-Young Lee
Saving mother
Maybe this time I’ll rescue my mother.
Pearl Harbor will just be a sleepy port.
Nobody came & nobody went.
Nothing lost & no wedding bells.
We’ll listen to corn in the summer fields,
rows & rows. Feed my lambs, a feather
said, someone loves like wind, no hope,
no brown uniform thrown on the bed.
His face won’t be in the photograph.
His face won’t look like mine. Nothing
gambled in the high desert dust.
No frozen clothes on the line.
Brothers will just be brothers, won’t
go speechless in the light of day.
Although that one of them, he’ll still
go to Alaska on a tall sail ship.
He’ll still die, an artful youth of a man.
Some things just gotta be. Else no
wonder of clay, sister on the desk.
Maybe Grandfather & Grandmother
will be Egyptian or Indian or make roots,
not drought. She’ll land covered in rain.
Maybe she’ll smile, never knowing
I changed everything, including me.
Neil Reid © February 2010
Read Write Poem poetry mini-challenge:
fall in love with a poet, February 2010
by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond WIckham
POEM notes: Writing this poem was inspired by the strong general sense of family as present in the poetry of Li-Young Lee, and specifically the first line here, Maybe this time I’ll rescue my mother, from his poem, Mother Deluxe.
During the later years of my mother’s life as her memory faded deeper and deeper inside, while I was glad to serve and care for her the general sense was bailing water from a sinking ship. Inevitable. Seeing that word, “rescue”, opened another chance of possibility for me. Not that I can change the physical result, however I can change how I hold that relationship, and even if but for a moment in time and reflection, rescue her, and from not only those last years but from all the history that also colored them.
It is spoken in gratitude.
bearly audible 
We both did mothers for this one!
This is very moving. The daughter would like to rearrange
reality to make it more palatable for the mother .The last
two lines are significant ‘including me’. I can relate
to this sentiment.
Thank you for your comment.
Haven’t had time to do justice reading as yet, but seems there might be some family themes. Good. And thanks for introducing Lily Brett’s work.
I am wondering if the italics signify anything?
That final line is stunning, absolutely stunning.
Big thanks Julie! Yes, they do. More to make some emphasis, and the first is the seed, quoted from Li-Young Lee’s work, that revealed my poem for me. The second (short I know) but a key statement from Christian history, a quote.
I like the title a lot. And the fantasy in this too. It’s moving.
Thank you Irene. I wish it could have been even more illuminating, the way it is inside for me. But this is also practice and learning, isn’t it? Thanks.
i hear li-young lee’s consideration for the generations in this. an interconnectedness. 🙂
Thank you Carolee. I often think of myself as a person without much “family”, but I’m glad he’s reminded me of what is still becoming fresh to see. (Good challenge!)
Neil,
Very nice read! I too love the last two lines they make quite an impact.
Pamela
Thank you Pamela.
And I think you did well with this one. I can see your distinct style in how you tackled the same issue and subject as your chosen poet, but yet I see a reflect of his apparent truth, gentleness and sensibilities in this piece.
-Nicole
Thank you so much Nicole. This poem was so ripe with meaning for me, and because of that one line from Li-Young, as I paraphrased, “saving mother”. (I doubt I did full justice, but I tried.)
Like many, she married in that emotional whirlwind that was the end of WWII. An American war-bride, as I think. It didn’t work so well, but she got me, and did her best from there. But there always seemed a deep soft river of sadness, little relieved. Toward the end of her life, it all turned to fog. And I felt sad for her. Lee’s insight also became mine. At least in how I held her life in mind I might change history some, rescue her.
It is a small thing, barely even a moment’s worth, but it has value I feel. Thank you for sharing it with me.