FASHION SHOW FOR GRADUATING SENIORS Marshall Field Department Store, Chicago 1964
The women seemed off-balance as they stood with shoulders back, and heads at peculiar angles, left foot turned out a bit and the right knee inward. Like mimes who act out stories not their own, each one’s smile lacked conviction.
Watching them, she felt as though they needed to be rescued. But she didn’t know how to rescue herself all those years ago, on her way to the prom with an escort she hardly knew. Her costume, a billowed skirt of pink taffeta with a bodice of tiny rose petals. In order to protect the outfit, she walked carefully, and made certain not to spill anything. Pretending was difficult, until it wasn’t anymore, when it became automatic and honed to others’ specifications. It eventually got easier and easier. Every school dance provided a challenge however, as to how she could appear to be enjoying herself.
Then one day she noticed she had moved herself out of the picture entirely, and into the background. Not too late, she began to reel herself back into a place once familiar, where she recognized the excitement of reacting in the moment, true to heart. Beyond compliance, the idea burst into a wild blur of possibility.
The memory, far in the distance now, is sketchy and jumbled, but the feelings remain. Some believe that living things are at their best when left alone. But we also seem to think that without guidance and pruning, humans flounder too long and go astray too easily. In this late afternoon sun, my unpruned geranium with its awkward tendrils, rises and falls, offbeat. Across evening shadow, the catalpa displays its pocked and porous underside that helps it breathe. Just today, I spotted a hummingbird, soon after I’d given up expecting it.
Listen to the footnote: https://theamericanscholar.org/joyas-volardores/
Jean Cassidy
Copyright: June 2023
art and education, prose poetry, wnc artists, wnc poetry, women writers, writing
Holly Iglesias
Great way to start Sunday, reading this vignette/meditation. I’m sure many of us know such feelings that remain. And the vision of a life “true to heart, beyond compliance.” Beautiful and grounding.
Kate Wenning
Lovely, Jean. And perhaps each effort you made “beyond compliance” made it a bit less lonely for those who followed.
jcadmin
Hi Kate, I hadn’t thought of that angle of the poem as being helpful to someone, but it’s a comforting thought. Thank you!
Zoe Nicholie
You are an amazing woman Jean! I especially loved the paragraph about reeling yourself back…I too remember when that happened for me and it was life changing! Love Zoe
Lisa Bartoli
Oh, Jean. Every word speaks to me and memories flood my mind and heart. None greater than the moments when I began to move ‘Beyond compliance’. With gratitude for you and your brilliant writing. Thank you. Big love.
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