One thought on “Prompt for Hour Seventeen

  1. CLIMBING (Hour 17, PM 2017)

    “Despite her [Marie Bracquemond] gifts, despite her striving, despite her enthusiasm, the day came when with an obscure feeling of grief, she had to confess herself beaten.” — Jean-Paul Bouillon, “Marie Bracquemond: The Lady with the Parasol” (Women Impressionists, p. 242).

    I’ve never met a ladder I liked –
    not the trap door pull-down device
    to my childhood attic, nor the sketchy plywood versions
    in construction sites where my brothers hid
    and snickered as we circled below, our bikes
    tied outside like royal steeds.

    But that never stopped me
    hauling myself up, hand over hand, until
    I reached the upper limits, and could rest
    hands on hips, as if lord
    of all I surveyed below.

    Blame it on grandma who climbed
    a ladder at 82 to prune her trees,
    and fell, breaking her back in two places
    then recovering in one sweet week, as if
    such a fall only required dusting oneself off,
    then retying your apron strings.

    Never met a ladder that made me sad
    until I saw Women on a Stepladder –
    why did you stop drawing?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *