POeT SHOTS is a monthly series published on the third Tuesday of the month. It features work by established writers followed by commentary and insight by Ed Krizek.
Bali Hai Calls Mama
by Marilyn Nelson
As I was putting away the groceries
I'd spent the morning buying
for the week's meals I'd planned
around things the baby could eat,
things my husband would eat,
and things I should eat
because they aren't too fattening,
late on a Saturday afternoon
after flinging my coat on a chair
and wiping the baby's nose
while asking my husband
what he'd fed it for lunch
and whether
the medicine I'd brought for him
had made his cough improve,
wiping the baby's nose again,
checking its diaper,
stepping over the baby
who was reeling to and from
the bottom kitchen drawer
with pots, pans, and plastic cups,
occasionally clutching the hem of my skirt
and whining to be held,
I was half listening for the phone
which never rings for me
to ring for me
and someone's voice to say that
I could forget about handing back
my students' exams which I'd had for a week,
that I was right about The Waste Land,
that I'd been given a raise,
all the time wondering
how my sister was doing,
whatever happened to my old lover(s),
and why my husband wanted
a certain brand of toilet paper;
and wished I hadn't, but I'd bought
another fashion magazine that promised
to make me beautiful by Christmas,
and there wasn't room for the creamed corn
and every time I opened the refrigerator door
the baby rushed to grab whatever was on the bottom shelf
which meant I constantly had to wrestle
jars of its mushy food out of its sticky hands
and I stepped on the baby's hand and the baby was screaming
and I dropped the bag of cake flour I'd bought to make cookies with
and my husband rushed in to find out what was wrong because the baby
was drowning out the sound of the touchdown although I had scooped
it up and was holding it in my arms so its crying was inside
my head like an echo in a barrel and I was running cold water
on its hand while somewhere in the back of my mind wondering what
to say about The Waste Land and whether I could get away with putting
broccoli in a meatloaf when
suddenly through the window
came the wild cry of geese.
Marilyn Nelson was the Poet Laureate of Connecticut from 2001-2006. In this poem she uses a sort of stream of consciousness to develop a mood the reader can feel. Her choice of images and words give a lyric tone to the poem. Putting away groceries is a sort of mundane task but here Nelson shows us how difficult it can be with a baby whining to be held/ and having to plan /around things the baby could eat and /things my husband would eat/. We have all had days when things just seem to go awry. During these times occasionally our thoughts drift to other things (/that I was right about The Waste Land/…wondering/ how my sister was doing/).
The poem on the surface is not that complex. It is a rant about the travails of daily life. But then Nelson switches up and /suddenly through the window/ came the cry of wild geese./. The reader is stopped in her tracks and forced (guided) to think about nature and the spirit of life that runs through all loving beings. This is what poetry can do. A poem can make us think about the world and those things which are greater than ourselves.
Ed Krizek holds a BA and MS from University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA and MPH from Columbia University. For over twenty years Ed has been studying and writing poetry. He is the author of six books of poetry: Threshold, Longwood Poems, What Lies Ahead, Swimming With Words, The Pure Land, and This Will Pass. All are available on Amazon. Ed writes for the reader who is not necessarily an initiate into the poetry community. He likes to connect with his readers on a personal level.