She is called
Mary Elizabeth
a name that conjures
dainty little ladies
with white socks
and black
patent leather
shoes.
My Mary Elizabeth
is tall
a big-boned woman.
She has a head
shaped like the globe
of the world
and it is filled
with earthly wisdom.
Her eyes
large and dark
are heavy-lidded,
the better to see
without being seen
as seeing.
Her oversized nose
detects the scents
of anger, distrust
treachery
and stimulates her
to battle back
with love, faith
sincerity
and hope.
Her mouth
wide as the river Jordan
cavernous as
the cave of Machpelah
speaks of children
recipes, world conflict
and also of Solomon
Confucius, Sophocles
and Khalil Gibran.
Her hands
with fingers thick
palms broad
catch the wounded
soothe the troubled
applaud the successful.
Her feet unfit
for black patent leather
Mary Janes
are clad in
ancient Birkenstocks
more suitable
to lead her ragtag flock
down the righteous road
to salvation.
At the end of the day
my big-boned
beneficent beauty
retires her crusader’s sash
and is content to return
to her life
as an ordinary
everyday wife
and mother.
And peace
reigns in our home.
(Written for dVerse Poetics, “Savor the Beauty and Share It”. March 24, 2015.)
vb's reverbs 
Vb, you’ve described the true beauty of this woman.
janet
loved all the description… beauty is about the inside; isn’t it
What a beautiful and strong woman she is ~ I specially love the ending:
At the end of the day
my big-boned
beneficent beauty
retires her crusader’s sash
and is content to return
to her life
as an ordinary
everyday wife
and mother.
You have really shown so many facets of this beautiful woman. She sounds like one capable of working miracles to me. Love the Birkenstock touch!
this is the perfect storm of inner beauty that cannot be contained – nice VB.
This is so perfect.. to me this shows what is truly beautiful.. I like especially how you took every feature and turned them into beautiful use… great work.
THIS is beauty… this is lovable woman… yes! filled with wisdom and I sure wouldn’t mind makin’ her a sandwich. smiles
Superb!!!
Probably big hearted too.
Truly big boned Matriarchal Women are the corner stone.. of all that is modern
American Culture.. And yeah.. my grandmother is perhaps one of the strongest..
Picking cotton at an early age.. supporting the rest of the sisters.. a hard life
of surviving and if it is not for female bones that thick.. outsizing yes..
my dainty fingers as a young male.. thick boned cotton picking hands..
that tried so hard to teach me how to be
a
man..:).. as my father wasn’t ‘strong’ enough to stay..
Perhaps i finally hear here here…
in my older
younger
age
of
man..
alive!..:)
Oh.. and thanks so much for the inspiration..
that is something else
checked off
my bucket list..
to give my beloved Grandmother
Credit for what I didn’t understand then..;)
Such true beauty. She reminds me very much of my aunt who died this week – peace did reign in her home.