In Memory

In memory of my mother, 1940 — 2012
Dirt Cheap Queen

It was the hunt that you loved,
your laser blue eyes scoping
the goods as you entered the store,
linens beckoning
like flags in the Sun's stare,
sheets with innumerable thread counts,
only the softest would do.
You'd dig through the pile, mining
for the gold. You saw the potential
in the unwanted,
the refused, the flawed,
just as you did in people - finding
the nuggets in a craggy crowd.
Later,
you'd wash the rescued, fold them
into perfect squares, rest them
in the cool of the linen closet
as flawless as you knew they could be
and, in return, they enveloped you
in cushy contentment for the rest
of your life.

“Dirt Cheap Queen” was published in Muddy River Poetry Review in 2017.

5 thoughts on “In Memory

  1. There’s so much said here in a few words, Charlotte. The poem reveals so much about your mother
    “You saw the potential
    in the unwanted,
    the refused, the flawed,
    just as you did in people”

    and also how you loved her. 💙
    Wonderful photo, too.

    Like

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