Week 7: Can You Dig It?

[alycewilson]

This is my entry for Week 7 of LJ Idol Survivor. This week's prompt was "Dig It."

Can You Dig It?

Mustard kitchen counters outlasted
all my mom's 1970s design choices.
Long after the carrot-and-lemon flowers
had been replaced with rose and baby-blue blooms,
and the bold brown, yellow and white stripes
had succumbed to subdued slate and coral,
the yellow counters abided. As steadfast
as her love for us, born in that splashy decade.

Childhood boo-boos, teenage broken hearts,
adult worries, all discussed around that
gold Formica, as Mom cooked goulash
or tuna casserole or, in later years, vegetarian
nut cake or low-fat chicken stew. Always
leaning elbows on her most permanent
choice, as she bit her lip and read the recipe.

At times, I still visit the house
she vacated with her ghostly baggage
five years ago. Even in dreams,
I know I am an interloper. Somehow,
still possessing a key. Or maybe
I just let myself in through the sliding
glass doors, like always. So much
has changed. I barely recognize the place,
fresh with white paint. But there,
in the middle of new cabinets,
the counter presides, speaking to me
of endurance, or that butterfly hope
trapped in the rib cage of memory.


- January 5, 2021

For those who like, you can see and hear me read it here. Please ignore my bedhead. I've been sick with the stomach flu today.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[adoptedwriter]

I loved the nostalgic vibe in this.

[alycewilson]

Thank you! I couldn't stop thinking of "dig it" as a slang phrase from the '70s.

[eeyore_grrl]

Lines I love:
"As steadfast
as her love for us, born in that splashy decade."

" Even in dreams,
I know I am an interloper."

"that butterfly hope
trapped in the rib cage of memory."

this is great; thank you for sharing and reading.

[alycewilson]

Thanks! Those are some of my favorites, too. I read it aloud because I've really enjoyed so much listening to your poems.

[eeyore_grrl]

Awwww YAY! Poetry is meant to be seen and heard.

[murielle]

What a treat to see you and hear your voice which sounds so much better than the sterile monotone of my head.

This is lovely! Brava!

Hope you feel better soon. <3

[alycewilson]

I'm feeling a lot better now! My husband, who had this same illness a week before, says I'm recovering a lot more quickly than he did.

[bsgsix]

I loved being able to see you and really HEAR this poem in your voice, the way it was meant to sound - not the way my brain read it. Thank you for adding that wonderful video! Sorry you have also been sick.

"Can you dig it?" was definitely something that came to my mind, too, and I like how you played with that. This is so nostalgic, and I adore this section:
"Even in dreams,
I know I am an interloper. Somehow,
still possessing a key."

I feel that, and I feel the hope you mention at the end. This is fantastic work. *hugs*

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much! Yes, the '70s are so intertwined with my childhood that it's hard to see them beyond a lens of nostalgia. Immediately, that phrase came to mind, so I thought of the most '70s thing I could.

About the interloper line, it's so odd how the brain works, isn't it? How I can be inside a dream where everything is absolutely impossible, and yet my brain won't let me forget the true reality of the situation. Like, when I see my Mom, I'm always glad to see her but then immediately remember that she's dead. Yet, I'm able to interact with her, nonetheless. I think it's a bit of protection, so that I don't wake up to a horrible reality after dreaming otherwise.

[bleodswean]

So fun to see and hear you! Good recitation and a nicely relatable analogy!

[alycewilson]

Thanks! I'll try to make time to do that more often. It would absolutely help for accessibility, and that's something I've been aware of for many years, thanks to LJ Idol.

[gunwithoutmusic]

I love pieces like this, because it really speaks to a lot of people despite feeling very personal and specific to you. I think everyone has a yellow counter of their own somewhere, a little thing that seems almost insignificant but is able to strike a chord with your memories and send you hurtling backward in time everytime you see it or think about it. Good work this week! :)

[alycewilson]

Absolutely! Some are obvious like this one, and some are perhaps a song or a scent or a movie that you send you hurtling through time-space into exactly the way you felt and experienced it the first time.

[halfshellvenus]

I wondered if anyone would tie this prompt to the 70s! And yes, I immediately thought about that horrible color array that was so popular-- "harvest gold," avocado green, and whatever that godawful burnt-orange color was.

I loved all the reflections and nostalgia in this, and the absurdity of those counters when everything around them had changed. And how achingly unfair it was that your mother's unfortunate choice in picking that unlovely counter should come to outlast her, when she was the true treasure in that kitchen all along.

[alycewilson]

You always get everything absolutely spot on. I suppose that must mean that you're my ideal audience or something. <3 But yes, the counter, in some ways, was an irony, because it stayed so firm and unmutable as she was changing with the times. And yet, it also was a lasting testament to her spirit, vibrancy and resiliency.

[swirlsofpurple]

Love the imagery here, so vivid. That last line is especially gorgeous.

[alycewilson]

Thank you very much. That's so good to hear.

[ashgael]

As long as it was in good condition it would last in any home of mine.
Of course if I bought a house I would paint it limon yellow with lime green trim.

[alycewilson]

It was in surprisingly good condition, given how many things needed repair by the time she died. And lime green would be fun for any kitchen.

[ashgael]

Kitchen?
I was talking about the exterior.
It would be my sprite house.
I would not do well with an HOA.

[alycewilson]

Oh! I read that entirely wrong. Yes, you would definitely need to avoid living in a place with a HOA!

[ashgael]

I dont think they would like a propane tank panted as a yellow submarine ether 😁

[alycewilson]

No, No, but I would!

[flipflop_diva]

Oh, my gosh, we had that mustard counter, too, before my parents redid the kitchen somewhere in the middle of the 80s. But in so many pictures of me as a kid — I don't know why so many are in the kitchen, but it's always there in the background!

I love this piece — and I love watching you read it! It's such a perfect nostalgic piece but also a very sweet tribute to your mother.

Also, eeep, stomach flu! I hope you're feeling better!!

[alycewilson]

Our photos were often in the kitchen because of the natural light, but they were against the floral wall. Here are a few pics.

The only one I have readily available online that shows a little bit of the counter is this one from an early 1980s slumber party (can you find me?). The edge of the two-level counter can be seen behind the girl in the jeans at right. It was designed so that there was a higher surface at stove level and a lower surface that served as a dining place. You can see the legs of a wooden chair between the legs of the girl in jeans.



Here's a rather awful photo in many ways. I color corrected it as best I could. This is the floral wall in the kitchen. And yes, there was plenty of wood paneling, too.



And finally, a photo I actually love of my siblings and me (at right) with my mom, on a couch in the living room. That striped wall also ran behind the portion of the counter that was for sitting.