Aunt Ada's Legacy
My great Aunt's handkerchiefs are beautiful,
lace-edged, hand-stitched
a colourful answer to a head-cold.
lace-edged, hand-stitched
momentoes of an unknown place
or gifts from long-dead friends;a colourful answer to a head-cold.
I find the perfect four-fold squareswith a silly relief,
I thought I'd lost them
Relics of another era
they speak of the insides of purses
and the hand-held hours pressed
The will of her much more like the iron than these
frivolous fancies she stowed away
As I do a cache of secrets
she passed down hiding the inevitable shame of the body
They are her strong and fine and scrupulous
on the details.
Copyright(c)Elizabeth Corey2011
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| Elizabeth Corey |
Elizabeth Corey, soon-to be- Tessier, is the mother of four wonderful kids and works at Whitehern Historic House and Garden in Hamilton, Ontario as both a guide and a caretaker.
As an older person, your poem brings back so many memories to me. Handkerchiefs were works of art which were used before the days of kleenex.
ReplyDeleteThey were not only practical and had to be boiled each week but also very feminine and decorative.
Your poem brings back great memories for me Liz. Thanks for posting it.