Take a trip to Three Word Wednesday, where this week’s challenge was to create a poem using the words Dare, Practical, and Essence. Click on the links of other poets and see the variety that emerges!
This is not a true story, by the way, except for the term “dust rhinos,” coined by my beloved Lex before we were married – at which point, I handed him a broom and said, “Go for it!” Amy
PERFECTLY ORDERED
She considered herself a practical person.
A place for everything; order ruled her world.
The little cup holding writing utensils was called,
“The Pencil Department,” setting a clear directive:
No scissors were allowed in that receptacle.
The essence of her need for these boundaries
came from (where else?) her childhood.
Mom was a gypsy tethered to a suburban home,
escaping for occasional adventures and
dragging daughter along for the ride.
Mom was not the housekeeper type;
her idea of ironing was catching Dad’s shirts
just as they came out of the dryer,
then folding faux creases in the collar and sleeves.
She only cooked frozen or canned foods.
The house was a mess, save the daughter’s room,
which sported a bedspread ready for
a drill sergeant’s quarter-toss and
neatly folded clothes, specifically spaced hangers.
All while Mom watched the soaps and drank.
Once on her own, the girl dared to let it slip a bit.
Her apartment was allowed to drift into disorder
until the day a dust rhino danced by her feet.
‘Twas then that her former, finicky self kicked into gear…
but every potential partner was repelled by her Pledge.
(c) 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
ladynimue
I am speechless !! you churn out such brilliant tales in your poetry .. amazing 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, nimue! Funny how this person jumped into my mind and fleshed herself out so easily…
Sheilagh Lee
wow powerful ” every potential partner was repelled by her Pledge.”
Sharp Little Pencil
I suppose you have to be American (or really into housecleaning) to get the double entendre. Good eye, Sheilagh, and thanks! Amy
tonynoland
Loved how the daughter rebels against the impact of her environment.
… and thank you for your comment on my #3WW. Your suggested revision to the final line is spot on.
Sharp Little Pencil
Dear Tony, thanks for that, and yes, it’s so true. Many of us swing the pendulum in the opposite direction… some sooner than later!
So relieved you appreciated the creative suggestion. I don’t want to be a buddinski or anything. Glad it helped!! Take care, Amy
Altonian
Very good! A really amusing read, pity it wasn’t true.
Sharp Little Pencil
Oh, I’m sure it’s true somewhere, with someone. As I just wrote to Tony Noland, the pendulum often swings in the opposite direction of one’s upbringing!
I’ll stop by your blog now – thx for visiting and commenting! Amy
Old Egg
I liked the idea of the rebellious daughter being tidy! I also loved the dust rhino, although a new expression for me, I have had many of the beasts assaulting me over the years!
Great piece, but sad to hear it is not true!
Sharp Little Pencil
Like I said earlier, Robin, I’m sure it’s true of someone somewhere! And at least the dust rhino reference is true – but I married Lex anyway! Told him that, as a single mom, I preferred to spend my off-work time reading and playing with Riley than cleaning house. Now that I work out of home, the rhinos have been released back to the jungle, just like Jumanji! A.
Kim Nelson
Hey! Reading that poem was just a little like looking in the mirror… at least the neatnik daughter part! I am ever amazed by the common threads that run among the lives of my fellow poets!
Sharp Little Pencil
Oh, so it was YOU I was channeling?! Ha! No, that person just popped up with the three little words. I’m getting better at getting outside my own experience and trying on new characters. That’s a stretch for me, so thanks very much. Peace, Amy
Debbie
Amy, you have such a gift! I am wowed every time I read. How is your book doing? I think everyone needs a little Amy in their collections and life!
p.s. I understand about submitting to Idylls. My first thought reading your reply was . . .Jesus was/is a radical too. 🙂 God bless you!
Sharp Little Pencil
So true about Jesus. Never violent, all he turned was tables… on the whole class system! An activist, a community organizer… some would call him a Socialist, I suppose, because the idea of sharing your surplus for the good of those who have nothing is not a welcome idea in America these days. Too many greedy people.
As for the chapbook, it’s going slowly = having been put on hold by the move, and I’m concentrating on nesting right now! But I’ll get there, you bet! Thanks, as always, for visiting and commenting. Blessings, Amy
Deborah
The essence of her need for these boundaries
came from (where else?) her childhood.
Brilliantly written!
Sharp Little Pencil
Spot on, Deborah. Where else do these swings in the pendulum begin? It’s like how the United Church of Christ, which is a blend of four churches including the Congregationalists. Congregationalists were the grandchildren (and naughty, at that) of the Puritans. They rebelled at all the rules and ended up being at the forefront of every human rights struggle from abolition to women’s suffrage to the 60s civil rights movement to the present injustice of gay folks not having their right to marry. Intense stuff!
Thanks, as always, Amy
Jae Rose
‘dust rhinos’ and ‘the Pencil Department’ made me laugh..but ‘repelling partners with Pledge’..that really made me scratch away at the dust inside..great piece..Jae
Sharp Little Pencil
Wow, great comment, Jae! The Pencil Department was actually from my Grandma Blanche, who had “departments” for a few things. Any old soup can covered with a granddaughter’s artwork would do… and that Pledge line simply leaped out of the ethos and onto my page! Yay for inspiration! Thanks, Amy
RJ Clarken
I love the idea that the daughter, rebellious old soul that she is, is the practical, neat one while the ‘gypsy’ mother is anything but. Amy – you have an amazing way of expressing the life you lead. Rock on!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, RJ, and just headed your way to witness your usual get-to-the-point (with a smile) wizardry! And you know, I am sure that daughter is out there, somewhere… and the mom, too. Blue jean baby queen… Jimmy Dean (Jaaames Dean)… Rock on!! A
Kavita
SUPERB!!! That touch of “Pledge” was simply marvelous, Amy!!! LOVED IT MOST !! 😀
Poor boyfriends though… teeheehee
Jeeeezz…. what a clever take on the 3 word prompt!!
Sharp Little Pencil
Kavita, so many women commented on the Pledge line, it was great! So glad you liked this. We’ll be haunting each other now that we’ve co-subscribed to each other’s blogs!! Peace, Amy
April Belle
Ha! Amy, this was so clever and fun. What a pleasure to read! I have been taking time off between posts, so I haven’t been as active lately… So nice to come here and visit your place again! This was a great 3 WW – I forget how much pleasure it is to really wrap the words into such a special package.
Sharp Little Pencil
April, loved yours as well – just hopped over there. Yeah, 3WW was great this week… sometimes it doesn’t give me anything to work with, but it’s always a good mental workout. Glad to see you again! Peace, Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
I love this – and have been chasing some dust rhinos myself today. I identified with the daughter. When I was a teen, mine was the only neat room in the house.
Sharp Little Pencil
…and I was a huge slob! The “dust rhinos” phrase was coined by my beloved Lex, when we were first friends and he came over to our place to hang. When he made the comment, I handed him a broom and said, “Go crazy!” He cleaned my whole living room. I was a single mom and which came first: Cleaning house or reading and doing artwork with Laura? ha ha Amy
ms pie
haha… cleaning is definitely overrated…
Sharp Little Pencil
From your lips to the dust rhino’s ears, LOL