Very Old Car by Eleanor Leonne Bennett
Resident Artist 2: David Arthur, No. 6: Mom’s Blue Ribbons
My mother’s Blue Ribbons
speak to me from her closet.
Instead of awards,
they sing the blues.
Telling her tales of growing
up in a bloodless family
as the scapegoat, the less
than preferred. I have never
heard a song so empty.
She calls to tell me about
herself, she pretends to care.
I know this because she readjusts
everything I say back to her,
as if I don’t exist. That is how
she creates connection. She has
to keep herself as number one.
This is how she survives
everyday, protecting herself
from outside criticism she wishes
not to hear any longer. Her hard
shelled deaf ear has turned the back
of her head in my direction.
While blue ribbons which hang
my mother’s closet skeletons
melody her war cries of safety
through the cracks of my open door.
Copyright © 2016 by David Arthur
Cover Image by Eleanor Leonne Bennett
A bit of a tear shed on this one. Powerful breaks on the page too.