Sweet Freebie

Sweet Freebie

In my uniform pocket
I finger the Mardi Gras beads
like a rosary,
these leftovers
of yesterday's celebration
at the nursing home.

Ruth Ann remembered gloves,
a new dress, a corsage.
Perry recalled chocolate eggs,
Lourena recited "The Lord's Prayer."

The handsome young priest
smears ash on my forehead
unaware I am unconfessed
not Catholic.
I carry home the beads, the ash,
sweet freebies
and grace.


I am as always pressed for time for the week's entry. The poet I've chosen for my weekly inspiration is William Carlos Williams. How he found time to be a physician and a poet is beyond me. There is not one particular line that resonated with me in this week's selection of three poems. Rather, it is his pristine economy of words and description. In "Red Wheelbarrow" and "This is Just to Say"---he evokes vivid pictures and emotions with the briefest of lines. I'm not certain I've quite succeeded. I do work in an assisted living facility and as I wrote "Today is Mardi Gras" under the day's activities for my dementia unit while resident's were having breakfast a torrent of Lenten memories/Easter memories was sparked in my residents. Grace is a sweet freebie.


Written for:

Defining Poetry: Contest  (13+) CLOSED. Not your average poetry contest. The ultimate prize is knowledge. #1615036 by emerin-liseli