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.

[Lena M. P.]

Reminds me of mommy dearest... However, poetry is to invoke emotion and this does so effectively. I distinctly remember my mother telling me, "I'll give you something to cry for!" It was mostly to instill that there are more important things to cry about than just to get attention. This mother took it to the extreme and so my hats off to you for a piece well written and the reminder of Betty Davis.

[HoorayForUnderdog]

I think this expresses the inner frustration/conflicting emotions of the 1950's housewife perfectly...well done!

[Phibby Venable]

A very moving piece of work. As poetic as it gets! I really enjoyed it. Very telling
& descriptive. I love the double images that emerge. great stuff.

[Susan S.]

This is going to sound silly, but it felt like there should have been a rhyme or rhythm to it. The second person viewpoint is superb and I could hear the winds of time send me back to the '50's just with that touch. I never had a radio flyer and my mom was the most amazing woman, both loving and supportive so I have no idea why I should identify so strongly with this.

Other than that nagging feeling that it should be more... poetic?... I am very impressed.

[dorkfish]

thats so sad, the poor child (you?). wonderful poem though.

[W.k.kortas]

It's nice to have something to pull the little girls into the bomb shelter. The best part of this piece is the little, between-the-lines insinuations and attitudes. Somewhere, Joe Stalin and Estes Kefauver are politely clapping.

[Chaotic Mind]

aww thats so sad... its well writen but not your best writing. Nice idea... but well actually, no there is no but, i cant quite come up with anything to try and help it out, i like the last line (even though its sad) this shows some cruelty on the mothers part... but either way, nice poem.