*****************
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 they 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.
And now we are not in our homes enough. Wonderful poem!
ReplyDeleteVery well written!
ReplyDeleteReally not a bad place to be...but I'd pour two glasses of tea!
ReplyDeleteA great opening line Bevelry. The 50s were a time long gone. The memories on the other hand never leave. Great poem!
ReplyDeletea touch of Stepford wife here Bev - the listlessness of house and air perfectly mirrors that inner world of the wife here. I loved these lines and can imagine them as the start of a song
ReplyDelete"All was quiet
on Maple Street"
29 Southwood Rd.
ReplyDeleteI remember Mama.
I was very fortunate to be a stay-at-home Mom until the children were in Jr. High, then went back to work and, after my husband died, had a successful career. I had the best of both worlds!
DeleteThis is beautifully evocative, Bev! 💝💝
ReplyDeleteI like your heartfelt composition. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is sweet, and true! My Mother was one of the housewives you described until our Dad died .. she was 34 with three daughters to raise ~~ entering the work force for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI love your time capsule poem, Beverly. Your descriptions really took me there. Reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom had a hot dinner waiting for my dad when he came home from work.
ReplyDeleteI hope there were some women in the 50s who got more from life than this. Tragic really.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people were truly satisfied by this arrangement.
ReplyDeletePerfect capture of that time, Bev!
ReplyDelete