This is a poem about Beatrix Potter--a woman who defied social conventions by her life, and in her work. Pick up one of her books. A movie also came out recently about her life. This poem will be part of an upcoming collection.


The World Of Beatrix Potter



Tapestry blues, pinks surround me...Pastel-Ecstasy enshrouds me
in a warm, homey cocoon...Mice who do needlework, hedgehogs
who sew and wash for the community...A pleasant soul with
brown eyes doing laundry for animal society...Timmy Tiptoes and
Goody symbolizing marital unity, a partnership based on equality,
respect, and dignity...unlike Chippy Hackee who abandons
his wife at the drop of a hat...leaving her to deal with foreign objects
bombarding their home like bombs...but it is only Goody storing
survival in the roots of the Hackee's tree...Mr. Hackee doesn't want
to come home, even though his hideout has been blown apart by
the wind... A gale of a storm...wind-wrecked, but not home-wrecked:
but still standing, shivering, in the cold: refusing to go back to the
hearth of a home...until a bear, searching for food changes his mind...
scurrying home, tail between his legs--as his wife dutifully follows,
umbrella in hand: unlike Timmy and Goody holding each other tight
under their black umbrella...that shields them from the cold--another
shield the warmth of their hearts...Timmy locking up safely
their storage...Goody looking after the little ones...a team working
together, forever...loyalties, honoured, duties done by a
devoted dyad--love forever engrained in their souls...
They're...squirrels? Really? Beatrix, artisan of image and word, is she
saying something? Naaa...it's only a children's story!




Poetry by Alison Clarke
Read 1340 times
Written on 2007-06-12 at 05:00

Tags Children  Beatrix  Women 

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nice article keep it up
2007-07-14