Trading Vows

Sunday’s Whirligig: Wordle #60
http://sundayswhirligig.blogspot.com/

gritty, fetid, filthy, faces, twilight, home,
broken, empty, cabbage, vow, streetcar, same

The Sunday Whirl: Wordle #252
https://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/

itch, track, nights, spring, willing, mission,
bell, sense, lost, stand, pay, gloss

Poets United: Poetry Pantry #303
http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/

DSCN4432b

Trading Vows

At first it was just an unreachable itch
this mission to understand how she’d lost
home. An empty sense of difference, never
knowing why she couldn’t be treated
the same as her siblings. She was broken.

Following gritty tracks of memory through
innumerable nights, willing herself to stand
firm, vowing to not give up until the face
of truth was found and would ring its clear
streetcar bell of reality for all to hear.

Then, on a spring day, realized she’d almost
reached the twilight years of her life. Had
paid far too a high a price mucking over filthy
past and its fetid smell of a cabbage patch
left too long after picking. Vowed instead,

to seek the gloss of each new moment, breathe
in its freshness, and know peace in that hard
won acceptance.

Elizabeth Crawford  5/22/16

Notes: Distantly biographical. Once lived about a mile and a half from Franksville, WI, manufacturer of Frank’s Sauerkraut. For a day or two, every fall, it was best to close all windows, turn up the air conditioner, and let the wind and rain disperse the smell of over ripe cabbage from the miles of farmland that surrounded us. Was living there when I found poetry, its inherent truth and its seemingly magical healing powers.

Image is a photo taken at the Botanical Gardens in Green Bay.

About 1sojournal

Loves words and language. Dances on paper to her own inner music. Loves to share and keeps several blogs to facilitate that. They can be found here: https://1sojournal.wordpress.com/ https://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/ http://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/
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18 Responses to Trading Vows

  1. oldegg says:

    Almost everywhere one lives has a unique scent, All sorts of farming is very much on the nose; luckily I lived in a town with two breweries! However it is still good to get away.

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  2. That smell from cabbage can be nauseating… I lived close to a coffee roaster once, and that made me an addict.

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  3. Sanaa Rizvi says:

    and know peace in that hard
    won acceptance….

    Sigh… beautifully poignant.

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  4. thotpurge says:

    It’s true.. many of us tend to meander in the cabbage patch for far too long…

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  5. Jae Rose says:

    What a wonderful way to find poetry.. perhaps when we have to close the window and be with ourselves we are forced to look..to feel and maybe even accept – that itch is so relatable.. home is the hardest thing to lose..find.. and explain to others what is missing.. you have done that wonderfully here.. and a very wise vow..

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  6. Mary says:

    I like the way that you worked the reality of the smell of the cabbage patch into meaningful poetry. We do need to seek the gloss of each new moment – despite the sometimes lingering fetid smells.

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  7. Truedessa says:

    Cabbage does have a very strong scent that lingers in the air. Interesting poetry can be found in the most unusual places.

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  8. Sumana Roy says:

    i love the final vow showing wisdom…an amazing wordler you are 🙂

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  9. gillena says:

    i always find it extremely challenging writing from given words, your poem journeyed in triumph in this challenge
    “to seek the gloss of each new moment, breathe
    in its freshness, and know peace in that hard
    won acceptance.”

    Happy Sunday Elizabeth

    much love…

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  10. magicalmysticalteacher says:

    She came to her senses! Better late than never, so I applaud her, the one who will now “seek the gloss of each new moment.”

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  11. Even without the note you provide, this poem is so rich in symbols and wonderful details. I really liked the idea of the cabbage, over-picked. This really stuck with me, and I think might be the most important image in the poem.

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  12. Sherry Marr says:

    Ha, that smell of cabbage makes for a very pungent poem, smiles. Loved it. There does come a tgime when being here now feels more spirit-friendly, than poking over the rubble of the past. I resonated with this piece.

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  13. Misky says:

    I love it when a person (real or not) finds their way into fulfilment. An uplifting poem, Elizabeth.

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  14. Well you sure used that cabbage smell to good effect, lol!

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  15. annell4 says:

    There is more than one way to experience the rotten cabbage patch. Hopefully we don’t fill our bags and drag them around for others to experience, too.

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  16. ZQ says:

    Wonderfull and great advice too!

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  17. I hope your search is successful. The only way is up.

    Visit Keith’s Ramblings

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  18. to seek the gloss of each new moment, breathe
    in its freshness, and know peace in that hard
    won acceptance.

    There is hope that the elusive peace will show its presence. Great ending Elizabeth!

    Hank

    Like

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