30 July 2010 | Vol. 10, No. 2
Alterations
I.
Bottom hemmed. Sleeves shortened.
Before leaving the shop,
my mother waves
the tailor back, asks
for the remaining fabric
after the alterations.
I never bought a dress
this expensive.
I want to keep it all.
II.
Turquoise with decorative pearls,
picture tropical
oceans & mussels
infected, the dress my mother wore
to my wedding, later
to her funeral.
III.
I danced with my mother's head
bobbing
near my chest.
My father drifts, buoyant
with champagne, me his youngest
dancing in a white tuxedo—foam
overwhelmed by the water
of its creation.
About the author:
Michael Schmeltzer earned an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. He helps manage A River & Sound Review and is a two-time nominee of the Pushcart Prize. His work appears or is forthcoming in New York Quarterly, Los Angeles Review, Water~Stone Review, Main Street Rag, Crab Creek Review, and Fourteen Hills, among others. He lives in Seattle with his family.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Michael Schmeltzer at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 10, No. 2, where "Alterations" ran on July 30, 2010. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
