Carolyn King
Bag Lady
After I’m gone, and my children are sorting through
my belongings, I wonder what they’ll make of the handbag
tucked away at the back of the wardrobe.
Maybe they’ll wonder why I never used it -
fondly (I hope!) recalling my well-worn shoulder-bag
brimful of handy things like pencils, loose change;
the bag that travelled to Cornwall, Edinburgh, Prague
(to name but a few) as well as on supermarket trips,
beginning - like me - to show its age; slowly
falling apart at the seams. And they’ll probably smile
somewhat ruefully, recalling Grandma’s favourite adage:
“Wear out the old ones first.” Because now I’m gone
there’ll be no-one to clarify why this shiny black handbag
rarely appeared from the back of the wardrobe
patently waiting patiently in the wings.
But when they look inside and discover no less than three
embroidered lace handkerchiefs, maybe they’ll realize
this is a very special bag - reserved for funerals; and perhaps
they won’t just laugh and throw it out as another example
of Mum’s eccentricity: maybe they’ll wash out the hankies
and pocket one - just in case of the trace of a tear at mine.
Page(s) 29
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