Betty Bleen's Poem - 俄亥俄新聞OHIO CHINESE/TAIWANESE AMERICAN NEWS

俄亥俄新聞OHIO CHINESE/TAIWANESE AMERICAN NEWS

IN THE PHOTO

4/20/2018

In the photo my mother is beautiful.
Though it is in black and white, I picture her
cheeks rosy as pink Chablis.
Her hair cascades thick and wavy to meet
the soft slant of her shoulders covered demurely
in a dark dress I imagine, a shade of red.
She is smiling coyly for the camera, as if she is
the keeper of some secret, about to spring a surprise.

The couch she sits on is splattered with clusters
of tiny white blossoms.
Behind her the wallpaper is enmeshed in huge leaves
pointing skyward; between each two leaves is a
single flower.
The floor linoleum is a characteristic 1950's pattern
of multicolored and sized diagonal stripes.
In the photo my mother is a constant, in surroundings
I can only describe as busy, and so she has been
for most of her life.

The photo was taken after mine and my older sister's
birth, before those of our siblings; before school days,
dating, marriages, children, divorces, grandchildren and
all forms of crises imagined or real which have
transformed her once vibrant brown hair to gray,
strand by strand.
Long before wrinkles claimed her face, Arthritis
wreaked havoc on her joints, Osteoporosis settled
in her bones.

In the photo my mother is beautiful.
She is poor but happy, innocent and trusting,
hinging on a promise, glimmering with love.

BY A FOUNTAIN

4/7/2018

By a fountain in Columbus, Ohio we sit side by side
listening to a jazz band. Recently acquainted we came
to the festival not as dates but, as we both told ourselves,
friends. The Columbus skyline is a perfect backdrop-the

sky so blue and wide, dotted with puffy clouds, the yellow
sun sparkling off the water, dancing in the windows of
downtown buildings. It is a perfect summer day but the
only heat I feel comes from your body so close to mine

and your blue eyes, bluer than the afternoon sky. My heart
is doing flip flops sitting this close to you as you study my
face, my smile, as if it were a memory you were making
to keep. The crowd around us is clapping to the music,

chattering, laughing… but all fades into the background
so intent am I on what you are saying I find myself leaning
into you, surprised that you are leaning into me. A few
people get up to dance and you hold out your hand, but I

am too shy for that. Instead, I toss my hair over my shoulder,
laugh at something you say, your smile so warm and inviting
I want to stay here forever, this close, under this perfect sky,
as the band plays on, as you look at me with those blue eyes.

Betty Bleen
www.toocutetoboop.com