Jalapeno Peppers

in the middle of seven siblings
and the middle of the great depression
momma made our dresses, even underpants
from cotton flour sacks, only one pair of shoes
and everything was hand-me-downs
every summer was barefoot country style

three older sisters had all the responsibility
when momma went off to the factory
as one by one the three left home
and i am the oldest of now four
momma never told me
this or that is your job now
one day she would tell me to do the dishes
next week she might say take out the trash
poppa taught obedience thru fear
but nary a word about duty or
concern for my three younger siblings

when i returned home to introduce my fiancé
with surprise and a little embarrassment
the only thing she had to say was,
“You’re getting married, as much as you hate housework?”
i married out of my class, as has been said and
turned myself into a clothes horse

today by choice i’m a used clothes rack
in a world of greedy madness and
thank momma for my roots and
thank myself for not passing poppa’s
physical violence to future generations
as his parents had to him

now there’s a future tomorrow in this pre-dawn light
seven decades have past into yesterdays
may we all return to our common senses
and save this new birthing day
for all our children.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 8:13 am and is filed under poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.