Two themed poems by Patricia Carragon

Two poems
by Patricia Carragon

Rainbows on the Pantries

Her Crayolas drew rainbows
on small sheets taken from pads
purchased at Woolworth’s.
Crude scribble scrabble strokes
were her crystal refractions.
She didn’t know about
Newton’s fascination
with rainbows and prisms,
nor did she care.
Her rainbows were bold and bright,
like her imagination.
Her choice of colors
weren’t scientifically correct,
nor did she care.
She was still proud of them –
her rainbows didn’t need the sun’s help
after transitory storms
at home or school.

She wanted to be happy
and rainbows made her smile.
She believed in Crayola’s magic
and found it
in a box of 64 waxen colors.
Upon completion,
she taped her masterpieces
on the pantries
that stood like 2 sentries
between the kitchen and dinette.

Scribble scrabble was unacceptable
by her teacher’s standards.
Her mother tried to show her
the art of filling in spaces,
slowly and carefully –
gentle strokes weren’t meant
to go askew.
She wanted her daughter
to be an artist –
she wanted her to fit in at school.
But the rainbows on the pantries
didn’t belong to the teacher
or her mother.
They were make-believe iridescence,
copyrighted in her head,
transcribed by her hand.

Her mother went to the grocer
when she was at school.
Her mother tucked her pink purse
in her coat pocket
She wanted to travel light,
preferred to leave
her handbag home.
Some strangers walked by,
bumped into her.
She never knew
the consequences
of that bump
until she got home.
Her keys, money,
address and phone number
were in the missing purse.

She went upstairs to her sister’s,
made the urgent call to her husband.
She left before 3pm,
to pick up her daughter from school,
brought her upstairs to her sister’s
and waited for her son
to come home from his school –
he had his set of keys
to let them in.

Shortly after,
her husband arrived.
She told him that her brother-in-law
had an extra lock
to replace the old one.
He told her,
you should learn to trust people –
he refused to change the lock.
He was the breadwinner,
the king,
and his rules were absolute –
never to be bent or broken.

A prank call followed,
then the strangers came
when the girl and her family
went out for the day.
They threw things on the floor –
closets were invaded.
They took her father’s suits,
her mother’s golden
and cameo memories,
her brother’s electronic toys
and her little trinkets.
Coin jars were left empty –
even the pennies were taken.

They ripped the rainbows
off the pantries,
left Scotch-taped edges
on the doors
with colored paper still clinging.
Well-built closets weren’t fortresses
against theft and vandalism.

She stood in front of the sentries,
too hurt to cry –
Her rainbows were gone
until years later,
when she learned
to trust a few people
and started to put
her words down on paper.

=======================



Mama watches Teletubbies,
swallows the TV
and becomes Dada.

Author bio:

Patricia Carragon is an ad executive who moonlights as a poet. Her poetry was published in Poetz.com, Rogue Scholars, Mobius, CLWN WR, Tamarind and Live Magazine and more. Her first book, "Journey to the Center of My Mind," was showcased at Poet's House in 2007. Patricia has been interviewed by Christine Leahy in 2006 and by Linda Di Feterici for "Conversation w/Keith," to be found at Eadonsplace,which aired on Live 365 in July 2007. She has also featured at numerous venues. Patricia hosts and curates the Brownstone Poets in Brooklyn and is the editor of the Brownstone Poets Anthology. She is one of the hosts for ABC NO RIO on New York's Lower East Side.