*******************
A WOMAN’S PLACE
Summer lay on the land
in a suffocating blanket of humidity.
Leaves clung listlessly to their branches,
scarcely moving in
the dense air.
The sun shone relentlessly
on lawns so thirsty
crunched underfoot.
Even the birds seemed unable to summon
the energy to sing. All was quiet
on Maple Street, except for
the hum
ot the laboring window air conditioners.
In the tidy
Cape Cod at 1423 Maple
the housewife tied on a fresh apron
and looked out her kitchen window.
Her husband would be
home from work
any time now. She poured sweet tea
over the
tall glass of ice he expected when
he arrived home from work.
For a moment,
she thought of the time before marriage
when
she was working, and the excitement
of feeling useful and alive.
As she
reminisced, she saw his car pulling into
the driveway.
Sighing, she went to the door
to greet him with a smile. It was,
after all,
1952, and a woman’s place was in the home.
The sighing at the end holds so much weight. I would love to read the story that sigh would brew.
ReplyDeleteAt least she had air conditioning! I like how you described the heat and dampness as a "blanket of humidity."
ReplyDeleteTimes have definitely changed, and women have come a long way. A great write Bev.
ReplyDeleteGreat capture Beverly - skilfully told...
ReplyDeleteAs was in 1958 ... the year my father died leaving three girls and a wife who had never worked outside our home ... but she/we did it!! In fine fashion too. Of course, I love this, Bev.
ReplyDeleteLuckily in Britain. WW2 emancipated women as few men were available to do their jobs as most were in the forces.
ReplyDeleteYes... I remember the Doris Day time,,,Now women can work but do not get equal pay ... still a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteAs the second of five children (born in 1951) I was the last one to grow up with a stay-at-home mother. By the time I was 8 & my little sister & then the twins came along, she'd returned to the workforce (secretarial pool). Since my father was an over-the-road, long-haul, hardly-ever-home truck driver, I often consider myself to be from a single-parent family. I miss her every day.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome work, Beverly. Salute!
Thanks, Ron. I had the privilege of being a stay at home Mom until my children were in middle school, then I went back to work, and I was a young widow at 45 and parlayed my job into a career. I think I had the best of both worlds, and I'm grateful. I admit I do think children need mom at home the first 7 years or so.
DeleteSounds like a dystopian novel. Did you see the Stepford Wives movie?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was a different world! My Mum nearly went crazy with boredom after us kids were at school during the day. Eventually she did go to work, in a secretarial job she held for many years, becoming a highly valued office manager. But my Dad did a lot of soul-searching before he allowed (yes!) her to find a job, in case his mates would think he couldn't support his family, which would have been a source of great shame.
ReplyDeleteA working wife certainly carries no stigma for today's husbands!
DeleteI can hear and feel so much in that sigh at the end. Beautiful writing
ReplyDeleteThis was the picture in my mind when I was a new bride. That 'what if I were a wife in the 1950s' image. I like to imagine myself living in the past; not a big fan of modern, post-modern culture. I love this!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful
ReplyDelete