1952 Mommy

 

1952 Mommy

 

Get in the wagon.

I said, get in the wagon,

don’t stand there crying.

You’re four and a half now –

a big girl, a bad girl.

You want me to give you

something to cry for?

 

Get in this wagon –

you asked your Daddy,

you begged for this wagon,

for this Radio Flyer.

So your Daddy bought it

and it didn’t matter

that I told him “no”.

 

I asked him who’d pull it

knowing full well

it would have to be me.

So get in this wagon

and don’t make me madder,

or I’ll give you something

to cry about, Missy!

 

There you go, here we go!

Now sit yourself up straight

and cut out that sniveling.

I'll push you around on

the drive near the back door.

Once around, twice around.

Stop! Don’t you get out yet.

 

And don’t you go close to

this edge of the driveway,

it angles straight down here.

Unless Mommy takes you.

Here we go, there you go.

See what I told you?

I’ll have to tell Daddy.

 

That wagon’s a danger –

you don’t want a wagon

that flies down the driveway,

that crashes and drops you,

now do you? I thought not.

I bet that those scrapes hurt.

At least you’re not crying.

Reviews

[PianoandPage]

i love the passive agressive nature of the mother. the 50's makes me think of the repressive nature of society. how emotions were surpressed and abuse hid behind the scenes.

the radio flyer wagon is a symbol of fun and innocence. i love how it becomes a foil for the mother to vent her dissatisfaction and feeling of powerlessness. you get a sense of her growing resentment taken out unfairly on her daughter.

you write characters so well.

[Raef C. Boylan]

There's a Plath-esque rhythm and tone to this poem - without spilling over into imitation - which I really enjoyed.

Man, she pulled the kid into an illusion of safety and then let go [!!!]

"See what I told you?
I'll have to tell Daddy.
That wagon's a danger �
you don't want a wagon
that flies down the driveway,
that crashes and drops you".

I honestly think that this is excellent work; you kept the voice consistent all the way through.
Most of the praise you're due has been given already so i'll stop haha.

Thanks for sharing this - and thanks for reviewing me the other day.

[Samuel Dickens]

It sounds a lot like my mommy, except she wouldn't have spent that much time on me or spoken so many words. Well, "sad" doesn't describe it, does it? Thank God most mothers are loving and caring, but as you've shown here, not all are. You've done an excellent job of demonstrating her less-than-motherly behavior.

[Orlando Murcia]

A 1952 Mommy dearest
this was a great piece you have
on here Holly

Very creative and I enjoyed
reading it

Great work!!

Orlando

[DRIVEN]

Wow...abusive angry mommy...proving a point isn't she???

You wanted it
Daddy bought it
It didn't matter
that I said no

good write though

[Spat Queen]

I was stuck on the last line for a long time. If the little girl had scrapes wouldn't she be crying. I wonder what was the inspiration for this piece. It argues a point for where the line is between discipline and abuse. I found it provocative. Interesting.

[Star Cross]

At the same time, this is cute and interesting. Although, I'm still young myself, it reminds me of the times when I was younger and not listening to my mother. Now this is how it feels..I'll apologize to my mother later on tonight. This is absolutely a wonderful piece.

[Ninelilies]

When i saw the "1952 Mommy" title, I was expecting the serially clean, hair perfect, rubber glove wearing, sleep in separate bed kind of woman. The phrases in the poem, I think, transcend 1952. But they capture a mother's musings very well. Good job.

[Mark Pearce]

Wow.

I couldn't have imagined this. It's too poignant. It paints its own back story.

A wonderful write.

[J. James Reider]

That was mean! But a very well done piece of poetry. I do imagine that my mothers mother may have been like this, I know my dad's mom was. I always had to worry about her getting her cane! lol... nicely done (: