E has been sewing her own clothes

[conuly]

And she's gotten really good over the pandemic!

My mother thought this was just the most amazing thing, and every time she had a new picture of E wearing a new outfit she'd show that picture to literally anybody who stopped within her orbit for more than three seconds.

I had thought that everybody knew this, but apparently I was the only one who knew it, and they were all pleasantly surprised when I told them how incredibly proud Mommy was of all this sewing.

Anyway, today she wore an outfit to school that was composed entirely of clothing that used to be my mother's, which prompted me to share with her what is, hands-down, my absolute favorite poem, so here it is for all of you:

Ballade Of Lost Objects by Phyllis McGinley

Where are the ribbons I tie my hair with?
Where is my lipstick? Where are my hose -
The sheer ones hoarded these weeks to wear with
Frocks the closets do not disclose?
Perfumes, petticoats, sports chapeaus,
The blouse Parisian, the earrings Spanish -
Everything suddenly up and goes.
And where in the world did the children vanish?

This is the house I used to share with
Girls in pinafores, shier than does.
I can recall how they climbed my stairs with
Gales of giggles on their tiptoes.
Last seen wearing both braids and bows
(And looking rather Raggedy-Annish),
When they departed nobody knows -
Where in the world did the children vanish?

Two tall strangers, now I must bear with,
Decked in my personal furbelows,
Raiding the larder, rending the air with
Gossip and terrible radios.
Neither my friends nor quite my foes,
Alien, beautiful, stern and clannish,
Here they dwell, while the wonder grows:
Where in the world did the children vanish?

Prince, I warn you, under the rose,
Time is the thief you cannot banish.
These are my daughters, I suppose.
But where in the world did the children vanish?

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sunday-poetry-ballade-of-lost-objects/

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

That is a wonderful poem and new to me -- thank you for sharing it!

[conuly]

I found it by accident around the same time that the kids started stealing their mother's clothing - including many things which Jenn had originally stolen from our mother when we were teens!

[hamsterwoman]

Yes, that is very relatable! There was a period when my daughter was in high school when she was suddenly wearing a lot of the clothes *I* wore in high school (which I kept because I keep everything), some of which had been hand-me-downs from *my* mom, and it was both neat for me to watch that sort of clothes-sharing relay and also really uncanny!

[sallymn]

Congrats to E, I'm sure the clothes are lovely :)

And I do like that poem...

[crystalpyramid]

That's so awesome about E!

And such a powerful poem, hitting me hard this morning, especially thinking about my braids-and-bows-aged child exclaiming "how did this pumpkin appear??" every time we see a pumpkin, in sort of the reverse of "where did the children vanish?".

[elisi]

My youngest is 17, and this poem is very accurate!! Thank you for sharing.

[fox]

I am surprisingly in love with the rhymes ending the A lines. (The poem is also marvelous, but making me a little weepy this morning.)

[tamsin]

What a great poem.

Sewing your own clothes is very impressive. I'm sure E looked lovely today.

[robby]

Wait a minute! Didn't you just post a pome by e e cummings?

[conuly]

Time goes so fast.

[conuly]

Oh, they really are!

She also made me two koroks (from Legend of Zelda: BotW) and hid them in my room, because koroks are assholes and like to hide.

[conuly]

I can post a poem whenever I like, by whomever I like. I contain multitudes.

[robby]

Sorry, I posted to the wrong thread.

[adafrog]

Nice. :)

[conuly]

You might get the clothes back, but I'm starting to think you'll never get the children back.

[conuly]

I thought it was a little weird!

At any rate, all lowercase is not a huge accessibility issue like all caps is, both because it's easier to read and also because screenreaders are designed to cope with it. I don't know whose bright idea it was to make screenreaders break at the thought of all caps, but I'd give them a piece of my mind if I did.

[sallymn]

I looked up koroks, I love them!

[cellio]

That's great about E! Knowing how to sew your own clothes means you can get clothes that fit properly, even if you're not the canonical body they had in mind for "size N" (whatever N is). Because, you know, people can vary in multiple ways, but sizes boil down to single numbers.

(Except men's pants, where you at least get two, but that's not always enough either.)