Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Reimagining Mother

She wore a nurse’s cap — white cotton
hand washed & dried flat, ironed
with spray starch that left the board cover
sticky. She folded side wings, positioned
pearl-headed pins to make the shape,
tacked with bobby pins to the permanent wave
she paled & hennaed to stave off gray.
Below the cap a white shirtwaist,
a gold pin from Framingham State,
tidy nameplate. Never fail
she wondered who might have died
overnight. I saw her off — Bye,
a slight wave — then dressed & ate,
walked the two miles alone to school.

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