Monday, August 2, 2010

A Special Blanket


COLOR CARNIVAL

A SPECIAL BLANKET

There are millions of blankets like this in the world
But this one is special to me.
It was made, by my Mother a long time ago,
In about nineteen seventy-three.
She made it from scraps of wool given by friends,
So the colours are varied and bright.
 She'd be pleased to know it has kept us warm
On many a cold Winter's night.
*
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COME BACK GIGI!

Do you remember Gigi?
Do you recall her colt-like enthusiasm,
Her awkward grace,
Her charming innocence?
Do you remember Tomboys?
Those girls, in 'our day',
Who were described as 'betwixt and between",
'All arms and legs',
'Little ugly ducklings'?
Do you recall their gangliness,
Their bony knees covered in bruises,
Their hair bobbed into a 'pudding-basin' shape?
Gigi blossomed.
That was what it was called in those days.
"Your Greta has certainly blossomed'
One mother would say to another.
And everyone knew what was meant.
In the fulness of time Gigi became a woman.
In the fulness of time our Tomboy became the toast of the town.
In the fulness of time……..
But now time has no fulness to arrive at.
That time between childhood and womanhood
Has been filled-in
In a sort of paint-by-numbers,
One-size-fits-all
Sort of way.
Our Tomboy sports painted toe-nails,
Gauzy 'bling',
Frothy tutus
And all the accessories required by today's
(heaven help us!)
'Tween'
Perky little bras adorn
Very non-perky little chests.
These young girls will blossom, too,
No doubt about it.
Eventually Nature will catch-up with fantasy.
But at what price?
There will be no hesitant little ballerina
Emerging from the wings,
Pristine, shiny, new.
There will be no universal gasp
At the transformation.
'Been there, done that.'
The eyes will be less wide,
The skin will be less dewy,
The breathlessness will be less thrilling.
And the tutu will be grubby and crumpled.
Come back, Gigi!
*

5 comments:

Gattina said...

Can you imagine that I have the same blanket but made by my Italian MIL who died in 1984 !! in Italy !! It's really amazing.

Darlene said...

Wouldn't we all want to keep our sweet innocent "Gigi's" that way for a very long time? Alas, they emerge from their cocoons and innocence is lost forever.

Jama said...

That's a very nice crochet blanket, sure to bring back memories of your mom when it keep you warm in the winter days. I do crocheting but mostly for table runners.

ASSA said...

Lovely blanket!

Linda :) said...

A very special blanket indeed... Very nice... :)