but why would you give her these old things
my daughter asks me, as I lay the linens on
the chair beside the bed in the guest room...
why not the new sheets with two-tone stripes
in shades of cream, or the blue ones with
cabbage roses...you love those, don't you?
yes, i love them...for you...but this is my friend
and like me, she loves the feel of time-softened
white cotton bearing the monogram of a long
forgotten bride, and pillow slips as delicate
as the cheek of a babe...
okay then, but at least give her the new down
comforter, it's filled with soft feathers, as light
as Colorado snow, and the chenille throw...
the color of the sea on a stormy march day
somewhere along the coast of Maine...
no, i will give her what I know she loves...a patchwork
quilt in the colors of yesterday...frayed in all the right
places and singing a story of favorite dresses saved for
patching, tea towels long-loved, and the remnants of
a baby's blanket oft-repaired and now a memory...
these are the linens she will love to smooth across
her lap as we sit, like girls, on her bed long after
you have gone to sleep, and the house is sighing...
these are the linens we will make up stories about
as we drink our tea, and fend off weariness and sleep,
because we don't want the day to end....
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