Unhung pictures leaning against an oak armoire.
Family photographs set under glass. Hand-painted jugs.
Tiffany lamps. Faded blue-washed walls. In this house lived
three daughters and one son, a mother, and a father.
There were seven doorways in all.
The family seldom used the main door.
A piano stood in the living room.
Red-brick house with lace curtains.
Where I planted wild roses. Purple lilac.
Yellow stucco and unpainted barn wood. Long windows,
narrow pine shutters. Rain and wind continue to erode.
Sage, grasses, mud sediment. Red and green mudstones.
Sparrows sing in and out among the roof tiles.
What fine meals I prepared:
The dailiness of my life.
As I walk through the streets. The old Anjou:
Fieldstone houses with steep roofs of slate or tile.
View over purple hills: I collect wild sorrel.
Blueberries. The black-blue fruit. Buttercup.
Yellow iris. White-flowering jasmine.
A reed basket filled with ropes, corals, and shells.
Nude colours. Ochre vermilion. Earth shades. Alabaster.
Affinity with caves and plants.
Woman in maroon velvet dress.
An unsent letter to my eldest sister in Los Angeles records:
… a Saturday afternoon:
… he chocked me….
The children pulled him off….
I opened the front door: Brilliant sunshine. Blue sky.
Snow on apple trees.
…he grabbed me by my hair: pulled me back into the house.
Pale grey wood ash in the marble fireplace.
The aroma of baking chestnuts fills the room.
Thin and crackling tomato and mozzarella pizzas,
one of the children’s music tapes playing.
In this house lived three daughters and one son,
a mother, and a father.
There were seven doorways in all.
The family seldom used the main door.
There stood a piano in the living room.
As I walk through the streets. The old Anjou:
Fieldstone houses with steep roofs of slate or tile.
Rain and wind continue to erode. Sage, grasses,
mud sediment. Red and green mudstones.
Photo Credit
Mudrock – Wikipedia – Creative Commons
First published CWS Vol. 29, 2011
Guest Author Bio
Ilona Martonfi
Ilona Martonfi Author of two poetry books, Blue Poppy, (Coracle Press, 2009.) Black Grass, (Broken Rules Press 2012). Published in Vallum, Accenti, The Fiddlehead, Serai. Founder/producer of The Yellow Door and Visual Arts Centre Readings, co-founder of Lovers and Others. QWF 2010 Community Award.
Follow Ilona On | Facebook |
Beautifully written poem, loaded with imagery and meaning.