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| Diana, Grace, Doris |
Monumental
Differences
by Doris Lakey
She
knew their names by heart:
Carter,
Waggoner, Leonard, all
Very
important people with most impressive lives;
She
could tell how they won their fortunes,
When
they met their wives,
Where
their mansions rose majestically
Against
the Fort Worth skyline.
Oilmen,
retailers, cattlemen and all,
Their
sepia adventures in the rotogravure
Lent
glamour to her Sunday afternoons.
Believing
imitation could express
The
sincerest kind of flattery, she stood
Aristocratically,
lifting her regal chin
Gallantly
facing the uncertainty of the unknown.
Her
back scepter-straight, she wafted
White-gloved
through downtown streets, glancing
At
none, seeing all, reverently
Fingering
her dime store pearls, in remembrance
Of
the cotton-sack, taller than she, once dragged
Through
fields she'd never own.
Before
the age of five, she'd learned to pull
That
cotton-sack down endless white rows;
Urged
on by father and brothers,
Her
bloodied fingers flew, her load
Growing
heavier, her step slower as
The
dew-soaked bag refused at last to budge; its weight
Held
her fast; her neck chafed and choked, she pretended
It
was a long string of pearls.
Grace
was a woman who knew her place;
In
presence of her betters, she'd retreat,
Shrinking
back into shadows so they couldn't see
And
laugh at the raggedy girl disguised as Somebody,
Guarding
her dreams of a future like theirs:
Confident,
carefree, complacent; lowering her gaze,
She
would stand frozen on the spot until they had passed,
As
the tiny, barefoot Grace had stood with cotton-sack
On
her shoulder, while the gentry landlord passed.
The
first real estate she owned is where she lies today,
Dreaming
beneath a modest stone
Of
her inheritance waiting in her Father's home
Somewhere
she's not yet been.
I
wonder if she ever looks up at the name
On
the granite monument overshadowing hers.
It's
sepia-toned, with the Pangburn name of confectioner fame,
Remembered
from so long ago. I wonder too
Whether
she notices
They
are buried as deep as she.
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| Diana, Grace, Doris, by a street photographer |
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