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The Small Pleasure of Folding Clothes:
After Anne Sexton’s - Consorting with the Angels.
What has changed
Anne?
I am a mother, the
spoons and pans are still here to anchor me to life
And the parts of life
that take time and are a bore, are part of the routine of
Cooking, cleaning,
washing, feeding, caring, solving problems, combing nits, cutting the grass,
vacuuming the floor, feeding the pets.
Part of the joy of
this manual labour is its simplicity
Its rest from the
poem, the painting, the teaching
That occupies my mind
and hands the rest of the time.
There is a small
pleasure in folding clothes and putting them into each ones hands.
In a freshly made
bed, in things ordered and put away.
God knows – you do
know God
How I have struggled
with the house and all it entails
How I have fought
being needed by little ones
And been disappointed
by rejected caresses as they grow and change.
My head and hands
yearn for Paint, a pencil, making, thinking creating
Always some task asks
for my attention
Before I can begin
with a brush
Or note book.
Interruption,
controlling temper
Fragmented thoughts
Paul asks ‘why do I
do what I do not want to do and
Leave undone the good
I want to do?’
Priority and duty are
not the same thing.
Anne talks of angels
and patriarchs
Lord these people
teach us by their
Lies, murder,
misdeed, betrayal, fraud and adultery
We are them, they are
us.
Anne talks of Psalm 45
on your right stands the Queen in Gold of Ophir
The king shall desire
your beauty… your sons shall replace your Fathers
A woman’s lot – to be
parcelled up
For her king, a
sacrifice
To bear, to labour in
the field of wifeliness and motherhood.
Our children, the
greatest gift and the greatest burden
One we accept and try
to understand
The blessing and the
commitment
God gives me love for
my husband, He gives me love for my children
And I persevere
working towards
acceptance of myself.
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