Friday, July 3, 2009

Poetry Friday

A friend of mine, poet and filmmaker Vasiliki Katsarou, is the editor of a new and interesting volume of poetry titled Eating Her Wedding Dress. It has some pretty well known and wonderful poets in it, such as Margaret Atwood and Jorie Graham, but is much more than that. It is fun and multi-dimensional (and selling pretty well). It is an anthology of Clothing Poems, which I thought was an excellent idea when I heard about it. Vasiliki has taught at TAS. Here is one poem, by Maxine Susman:

A week before you leave
we're in the bedroom sorting clothes.
Three piles: to take, to toss, to leave at home.
Part of me says I'll do your clothes
forever if you'll stay with us. Part says
here's your own jug of detergent,
don't forget to read the labels.
Part says take the other sweatshirt,
it will come in handy, part says
leave it for me to wear around the house
when I miss you. Some things
in your toss pile I regret, but why
should I save what you don't want?
What seemed a closetful of everything
squeezes into one bulging duffle.
I see you there, your quilt on your new bed,
CD's in their rack, posters on the walls,
clothes piled on another floor,
while I sit here in your old room
sorting the come and go between us.

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