Zingara’s Poetry Pick: The Good Wife by Allison Elrod
This week’s poetry pick is from the Winter/Spring 2011 issue of Cave Wall, to which I recently subscribed. Cave wall is published bi-annually and, according to their website, is dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary poetry. Follow this link to find out more about their publication and submission guidelines: Cave Wall
The Good Wife
by Allison Elrod
On the day she knew for sure
she walked through her quiet house
admiring its lovely bones.
She loved the light
that filled the place,
the view from every window.
She went upstairs and lay down
on her boy’s small bed.
Lying very still, she made herself
small — watched the paper dragon
hanging by a tread above her, watched
it turn and turn in endless circles.
Later,
she folded shirts
and started dinner.
She went out to meet the school bus right on time.
From the contributors notes: Allison Elrod is a poet and essayist whose recent work appears in or is forthcoming in Iodine Magazine, Kakalak, The Mom Egg, and The Sound of Poets Cooking. She is Associate Editor at Lorimer Press in Davidson, NC.
Tags: Allison Elrod, Cave Wall Literary Magazine, Rhett Iseman Trull
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
September 22, 2011 at 12:00 am
Allison, what a poignant and touching poem. That last line sums up the title so well. The whole mood of the piece elegant and exactly what “The Good Wife” should do. Brava!
You’ve chosen a perfect pick!
September 22, 2011 at 9:21 am
Thanks!
February 10, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] of a poem that I think strikes a lovely balance between mystery and clarity. It’s called The Good Wife by Alison Elrod. Go on ahead and read it; I’ll [...]