All the Suitcases in Cars and Closets

All the Suitcases in Cars and Closets

As I help you pack, small darling
You cross the land mines of middle age
to kiss me goodbye
I tuck your enthusiasm into the pocket
of my housecoat, my eyes smile
you out of my sight, then break
into the reality of hard water
You report back, good weather, clear skies,
the sun of youth striking
through the back window where your bags,
spilling your future, are colorful and easy
to lift into new homes.
My suitcase is packed in the closet,
swimsuits and white linen folded,
among the bubble pipe and bubble soap
I long to blow into the shimmer of colors.
Among the long thin scarfs to tie back my hair
on the imaginary beach that I may find
someday soon, when my own mother
no longer totters through saw grass,
cutting her feet into the grave soil,
When my house learns to wait
and swallow her losses,
when no more strays watch
through the dog lot bars
waiting for a rescue or at least a run
down by the river.
You phone your arrival twelve hours later,
tired but easing your youth between the sheets
that will bring you to a painless morning.
Here, my mother is rising in a crouch
of arthritis, and I am stiff for a moment
like a reminder of twenty years further on
This is the middle ground, my darling,
my beautiful girl of unaware longing,
I slip a money order into the mail
I send it happily for your survival,
the one in blue skies,
the one in sun,
the one that I cannot find
in this hopelessly ready back pack
of obligations.

Reviews

[Marie Anzalone]

How bittersweet it is for me to read of this supportive, loving goodbye as a young one leaves home. I have no children yet of my own, but my own leaving, at age 17, was like drifting alone into uncharted waters, knowing I was not welcome back home. Not for anything I did, but for the type of person my stepfather was. I started cryign while reading this, realizing that all I ever wanted from my own family was a "we've got your back". Another lovely piece from a fantastic writer. Thanks for sharing this one!

[Donald Meikle]

well packed Phib Life through your eyes is clear as ever

[celyn]

..stunning. I love this.

[W.k.kortas]

Our love and our obligations, rolling on (hopelessly--or hopefully?-- intermixed with one another) through the generations, all expressed in a voice that has been absent from this little corner of cyberspace for far too long.

[Emily B]

ahhhh, adventure . . . .

[cest la vie]

Simply put..endearing, lovely and how darn blessed you are..

[Jibey]

Such a charming and poignant domestic scene... capturing the depth of a mother's love and that edge within the heart that longs for the days that once were...

[Ed Hart]

By the third line I begin to melt. I think, "and then there is you"....

[Tracie Skarbo]

Oh I love this!! Youth is a time of carefree exploration...always envied by those with things to do, people to see or take care of...the way you express yourself within these lines is amazing. Your wonderful heart shines through every word. :)

[Collect-Eye]

This is pretty surreal. The interactions between thoughts and feelings and symbols and reality are subtle and methodical. I guess that's how obligations ought to be expressed.