Woman in a Victorian Dress

Portrait of a great great aunt.

Amid a shallow attic lit
It up I had picked...
From off of dusty table top
With great intensity looked
Jaw dropped, staring quite pale

 

I had unearthed the curiosity of a last century
In an eighteen twenty two of past
Captured she was as if some kind of prisoner
In plainer black of white
Of a faded ancient photograph

 

On further inspection, my vitals lapsed
To a background, an uncanny sight as this
Of once abandoned but, never quite forgotten
Woman who's now been uncovered
Elegant, in a then, modern day Victorian dress

 

Her parasol, a conspirer with god awful hat
Atop mountains of spun braided tress
Set the air on high hopes

Dispelling known notoriety with new found evidence
Beneath those silhouettes and grays was my beautiful auntie Bess
 

Greatest of the greats, long ago stood the test
Was my mother's mother's sister a relative that now seemed distant less
Than those heard old folk tales of lore
Of a woman ahead of her time
Always remembered in a pair of Levi pants she wore

 

The years had kept her legend
But, now in this here likely present
She again, will take her place
With a pride from out of frame and glass
Was a tamed woman still wild-eyed in ways

 

Her found smile a treasure first upon display
Auntie Bess fills an once empty space 
Just like in the heart familiar
And here upon the mantle of the family's fireplace

 

Bound up in a ladylike gown

Hog tied and rustled as a rodeo calf

Gussied up, you'd think she'd been tarred, feathered and drown

Next to all her other passed away kin
Hiding the gossip away in a crowded family portrait
Finally, I see her wearing that rumored Victorian dress at last

Reviews

[Michael K. Evans]

Interesting piece, miles different from the last I read. You jump from one style of writing to another. Is this fact or fiction? If it is either it surely is interesting. I think you should add a photograph here to go along with the poem.

[Michael G. Smith]

Thanks, I like to try and write different ways. I find it boring to keep writing in the same style.

[Rita L. Sev]

Old photographs have such great character. People were somehow more soulful then, and it was reflected in their pictures. This is a beautiful write, M.G. The reader is there in the attic with you, looking over your shoulder...

[Michael G. Smith]

Thank you Rita.

[Lydia Shutter]

Ah, the attic....a treasure trove of wonderful bits and pieces. Your imagery was wonderful throughout the poem. Old photographs make ancestors come alive in our minds. I liked this a lot. Lydi**

[Angi]

M.G. I love finding old treasures and attics in old houses could keep me happily hunting for days at a time. The descriptives flowed in and out of the words of this poem so well. I have a picture in my head of Aunt Bess in Levi's and in that unlikely Victorian dress, too. Beautifully done. Angi~

[Michael G. Smith]

Thanks Angie for your insights.

[Angi]

You are most welcome.