Rouge the cracked china of her cheeks. Tie a pink ribbon in her hair. Dress up the ninety-year-old for a visit from her relatives. And we come in and sit beside her, uncomfortable at the living funeral. She says, "Oh yes. Yes," to everything; but her eyes fold us back gently, pale as tissue paper. Hidden behind the bedroom door, she snips gold fringe from her mother's earrings, to make a necklace for her doll's Limoges white neck. She strokes the ribbon in her hair and smiles tenderly at the wall. We leave. Flat white shoes put her away unbroken. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I HAVE SEEN THE SPRING' by SARA TEASDALE CHANGED by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE CAPTAINS OF THE YEARS by ARTHUR RAYMOND MACDOUGALL JR. HYMN: 32. THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST by CHRISTOPHER SMART THE LACHRYMATORY by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER TO IRELAND IN THE COMING TIMES by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS LOVE AND LANGUAGE by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON |