Scaling Wall
Something there is that does love a wall,
That sends the gangly boy-limbs clambering up
And bids the mother not to fuss or call
Out words of caution, not to spoil the bliss
Of racing, arms outspread, along the bricks,
Along the road that crests the world, the whole
Huge world six cinder blocks and seven leagues
Below. The boy is king, is wind, and she
Must hush: just study shrubs in neighbors’ yards,
Imagine herself a Seventies mom, unfazed
By threats to skull, spine, ulna, femur.
He shouts, he leaps; the earth (a mother too)
Shivers, lets loose the cord of gravity
This once, just once, and also on the next
Block, the next wall, each ridge that lures
Him skyward all the long way home.
***
This week’s Poetry Friday roundup can be found at Reading to the Core.
tanita says:
Lissa, I LOVE THIS.
And, it makes me feel better about the nephews that the Earth is a mother, too, and is doing its best to try and work that gravity thing so the little turkeys don’t kill themselves leaping up and about and jumping off the wall…
Indeed, something there is that does love a wall. And it’s usually between five and ten and is possibly missing front teeth…
On January 29, 2016 at 7:37 am
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater says:
Absolutely gorgeous. A talk back to a poem….I love this wall and this boy and this mother and the mother of them all… xo
On January 29, 2016 at 9:10 am
KT says:
Wow. Just wow. I felt this in my bones. I both love and hate being that mother. Thanks for reminding why I am her, Lissa.
On January 29, 2016 at 10:04 am
Heidi Mordhorst says:
“The boy is king, is wind, and she
Must hush: just study shrubs in neighbors’ yards,
Imagine herself a Seventies mom, unfazed
By threats to skull, spine, ulna, femur.”
I was thinking about this 70’s mom thing just an hour ago as, on our last snowday of 6 in a row, I put sauerbraten in to simmer, how our mothers wouldn’t have had time for all that cooking if they had had to stop us and our brothers falling off walls.
This just lovely, Melissa.
On January 29, 2016 at 1:10 pm
Kay McGriff (@kaymcgriff) says:
I love this! I have a daughter and can well relate to watching her want to soar while I wanted to keep her safe. As a 70’s kid, I often thought back to my own childhood to help me let her go.
On January 29, 2016 at 5:05 pm
Lise says:
Love this!!!
On January 29, 2016 at 6:37 pm
Molly Hogan says:
“Something there is that does love a wall, That sends the gangly boy-limbs clambering up.” I love this poem! It’s in the moment and transcending the moment–so vivid, so real. Also love this line: “the earth (a mother too) Shivers, lets loose the cord of gravity.” Your poem was a gift to start my morning. Thanks for sharing.
On January 30, 2016 at 2:27 am
Catherine @ Reading to the Core says:
I know this kid, with his “gangly boy-limbs,” but mine was always clambering up into trees. We basically let him, until gravity inevitably won and then he was slightly less fearless. You’ve captured the boy and his mother perfectly. Thank you so much for sharing this!
On January 30, 2016 at 7:31 pm
Penny says:
Gorgeous.
“imagines herself a seventies mom”… YES! And yes to the rest too. Just wonderful.
On January 31, 2016 at 2:57 pm