in the old days

in the old days

 

mama cried 

on her Pendleton sleeve

plaid tears

the kind that explode

like bubbles

when pricked by fear

 

the jacket

encompassed an anxious soul

a hitherto frozen heart

 

her children cried too

but her jacket 

was buttoned up so tightly

 

she could not feel a drop.

 

 

erin-cilberto

3/24/25

Reviews

[Vol]

Jacob,
Your poem is like a sandspur in the heart... it looks like everyone was pricked... reading this, I am pricked. I was going to say so, but figured most would have commented the same...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Vol.
Any poet has to feel amazed if readers actually react to his or her poems.

[Vol]

Jacob,
She must be a Brit... I see then on TV walking in the rain, clothes spotted with wet drops, shoes in shallow puddles, dips off the end of noses, and they seem completely unfazed, unaware of the rain. Much of the time they don't even have an umbrella with them. But there they are, camera rolling carrying on like nothing matters except the next line... I live in a semi desert, and tend to notice such things...
Vol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

She had a lot of rain in her heart. I appreciate your insights, Vol.
thank you,
j.

[Lorry]

It seemed to be the way of an older generation, or some at least to show little compassion in case it was seen as weakness.
My mum said her Ma was cruel, cold and distant to her and her brothers and sisters, but was just Granny to us, who always had treats and smiles.
I think the ones hit the hardest where the ones who were kids during WW2. They really suffered, especially with the males away to war.
My mum and her siblings got sent to Ireland during the war to live on a farm and said they were the happiest years of her young life.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for sharing this, Lorry...My mom's stepmom was a real b***h, kicked her out of the house when she was 16...and her father didn't fight for her...that is tough to deal with as a kid.
thank you again,
j.

[Wicahpi]

A good Pendleton can carry the weight off all our tears.

Nice write. Thank you

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Wicahpi.
j.

[Thomas W Case]

Tremendous work. Powerful and well crafted.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Thomas.
j.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

This is described beautifully
It leaves the reader well myself anyway with a sense of being lucky that I had a mother that comforted me if I cried
Loved it

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I am so glad you did, Julie...that is most important.
j.

[Desert Knave]

Many of us grew up around those who insulated themselves from tears. Very interesting write. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Jim.
j.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Our life experiences so vary that each are unique as we are individual. Individuality is the only true freedom and the individual is the only defense against prejudice and bigotry. My "old days" are not yours, nor yours, mine. But they existed in some of the same times. That said, it's wonderful to glimpse at the lives of others to give ourselves a broader perspective on what it is and what it means to be "human". It can be a terrifying or richly rewarding concept not mutually exclusive, one of the other. But we walk between the spaces of alternate eternities looking through the windows of other's bakeries, maybe wishing for a sweet roll while trying the taste of sour grapes. You write so wonderfully but often poignant and elusive longing fills the spaces in between the lines. Superbly crafted, as usual. F.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your very kind review, Fabian.
j.

[williams]

i think portraying our emotions sometimes can be catastrophic so we tend to hide them

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, we do tend to do that.
Thank you, williams.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

So sad that your mama’s heart was frozen by her childhood trauma. I felt this poem deeply j. Children need to feel much warmth. My own mum did not show her emotions openly. She was brought up in the environment of the stiff upper lip. As adults we can reflect and understand what we didn’t as children.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Sure is the truth, Chris...thank you for your kind review,
j.