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...SONATA IN PATHOS by CONRAD AIKEN THE MOUNTAIN WHIPPOORWILL (A GEORGIA ROMANCE) by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET LA NOCHE TRISTE by ROBERT FROST I'M GOING BACK TO SOMETHING by DAVID IGNATOW TO THE ROCK THAT WILL BE A CORNERSTONE OF THE HOUSE by ROBINSON JEFFERS ECSTASY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON JOY (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |