If the year is meditating a suitable gift,
I should like it to be the attitude
of my great- great- grandmother,
legendary devotee of the arts,
who having eight children
and little opportunity for painting pictures,
sat one day on a high rock
beside a river in Switzerland
and from a difficult distance viewed
her second son, balanced on a small ice flow,
drift down the current toward a waterfall
that struck rock bottom eighty feet below,
while her second daughter, impeded,
no doubt, by the petticoats of the day,
stretched out a last-hope alpenstock
(which luckily later caught him on his way).
Nothing, it was evident, could be done;
And with the artist's isolating eye
My great-great-grandmother hastily sketched the scene.
The sketch survives to prove the story by.
Year, if you have no Mother's day present planned,
Reach back and bring me the firmness of her hand.
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
-
I see where this is coming from, a steady hand in times of crisis - however I doubt very much if I could have sat rock-steady if my son was in danger. I got the strong impression that the painting, at this precise moment meant more to her than her son. Well-written as I feel the meaning is crystal-clear, but then Judith Wright was a master at this.
Von
Adding your comment:
