Rouge the cracked china of her cheeks. Tie a pink ribbon in her hair. Dress up the ninety-year-old for a visit from her relatives. And we come in and sit beside her, uncomfortable at the living funeral. She says, "Oh yes. Yes," to everything; but her eyes fold us back gently, pale as tissue paper. Hidden behind the bedroom door, she snips gold fringe from her mother's earrings, to make a necklace for her doll's Limoges white neck. She strokes the ribbon in her hair and smiles tenderly at the wall. We leave. Flat white shoes put her away unbroken. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS OF EXPERIENCE: INTRODUCTION by WILLIAM BLAKE THE PLAINT OF THE CAMEL by CHARLES EDWARD CARRYL THE DANCE OF THE SEVIN DEIDLY SYNNIS by WILLIAM DUNBAR LINCOLN by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER ON THE MEMORABLE VICTORY OF PAUL JONES by PHILIP FRENEAU ENGLAND AND AMERICA IN 1782 by ALFRED TENNYSON |