Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Motherhood


MAGPIE TALES
supplied the prompt

MOTHERHOOD

Motherhood is complex, mixing all emotion,
Partly irritation, partly great devotion!
Is this a Mother full of care, bent over with the chores,
Or is this a Mother dancing with the children she adores?
A real-life Mother, somewhere, is rushing, fretting, stressed,
Busy in the morning getting children fed and dressed;
She will view this statuette as indicative of worry,
Children 'dragging at her skirts', chivvying them to hurry.
But, somewhere else, another Mother's in a happy mood,
Dancing with her children, happy with her brood.
She'll view the statuette and see a love that knows no bounds;
A vision of that special bond that engulfs us and astounds.
In ebony, the artist has captured bad and good;
That miracle of existence that we know as Motherhood.
*
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IVORY IN IVORY

Florence Ivory, my dears, a dentist of renown,
Pictured in her surgery, in her working gown.
And ivory is the photograph that someone took of her
For this was 1917, and that was how things were.
Sepia always brings a certain melancholy air,
Because it makes it harder to pretend that we were there.
Colour-photography blares forth and seems so up-to-date,
But sepia demands we gaze and really contemplate.
We become aware of Florence and we realise that she
Was one female among dentists and quite a rarity.
What mad ambition drove her to study such a craft?
No doubt the other ladies looked a bit askance and laughed.
And look at that machinery; those nasties made for drilling!
And what if there were burly men who thrashed about, unwilling?
How did she cope with all those roots that needed such brute force?
For the helping hand of pain relief was very rare, of course.
She looks a girl to reckon with, and so does her assistant!
I'm sure one could rely on them if pain were too persistant!
Your history, in Pittsburgh, is quite unknown to me,
But I like this ivory picture, Miss Florence Ivory.

*

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah the Motherhood poem is really what that prompt is all about!

Margaret said...

Motherhood is amazing! I am really struggling with the Magpie prompt. You REALLY nailed it with not a only a wonderful rhythm but with profound insight. Well done.

Donna B. said...

Beautiful ode to Motherhood. Congratulations!

Lyn said...

Motherhood...amazing! I see the happy dancers, entwined! Powerful...

Helen said...

One of my favorites this week!!! You dug deep and gave us a beautiful perspective on being a mother.

Kat said...

Motherhood - Do write a poem on Grandmahood, Brenda :-)))

Ms Ivory - Admiring the inspiration of this dentist in those days. Thank you for sharing.

annell4 said...

I liked them both. It's always fun, when you have the crossover of one art form to another, which you did in both pieces! Well done.

Cad said...

There speaks a Mum!

Jinksy said...

Mum with kids? Now I see it too!

Andreas said...

There's a wonderful musicality to this piece.
A beautiful contemplation on motherhood.
Both mothers in your poem are the same, aren't they? They're my mother.
I love this.

Kathe W. said...

you captured it pefectly!

Andreas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Martin said...

That's a nice image, a mother dancing with her children.

Tess Kincaid said...

A mix of irritation and devotion. I like that.

Kavita said...

Oh wowww!!! I loved both the ways of looking at that statuette.. cuz I am pretty sure each mother goes thru' BOTH of them all the time.. :))
Absolutely enjoyed your tale on the prompt, Brenda...
A lovely lovely ode to all moms!!!

Other Mary said...

I like the two views, depending on the emotions of the viewer.

Anonymous said...

A very nice honor to mothers.