Stug Jordan
Tailoring
I am confused at the age of seven or eight
By the tailoring of my matriarchs, scissors in hand,
Laying out their fine paper in delicate plans
Of body parts, blue pencilled tracks running straight
Through a faceless woman’s shape at the breast;
Sleeves marked out in outlines; the cut-out skirts
They compare on her; the noiseless cut that hurts
Her figure as they dissect it, only to let the paper rest
On ugly fabrics the poor pencilled woman would never wear.
I rescue her as they crowd coven-like in the kitchen,
Fill in with colours the blank gaps of her stitching,
Give her eyes, a smile, a felt-green head of hair
To match the belt that nooses round her perfect waist
Like a tidy little ribbon; reorganise their blueprints
As if it will prolong her life. Now her face hints
A rebellion to the torture, a resistance delicately traced.
Stug Jordan is 24 and has only in the past year become enthusiastic about writing poems. He lives in Norfolk with his partner and 3-year-old son.
Page(s) 57
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