Polycarbonate Caryatid
Women holding up the world
“Porcelain doll”?
no, rather a
polycarbonate caryatid
holding up
the roof
the foundation
the community
the world
Unbreakable
Chip-proof
Indefatigable
is she a porcelain doll?
no, she is a
titanium pillar
supporter of worlds
you carry us all
So Tre L. Loadholt wrote a poem about a man who called her a “porcelain doll”:
And while I saw where she was going (after I read the poem) (and you should, too, by the way) I was initially put off by the title. Our Tre? A fragile, porcelain toy? Something shattered with a clumsy fall? HA!
So my first draft countered that. But then I thought of all the strong women I know. The ones I grew up with. The ones I married. Strong and capable supporters of enormous weight, unbowed, unbeaten, unstoppable.
So this is for my wife, Deb; my ex-wife, Linda; my late mother, Mary; my late mothers-in-law, Rose and Maxine; my female classmates from the first class with women at the Naval Academy, the class of 1980; and A Maguire, Agnes Louis, Aimée Gramblin, Ann Litts, Anna Breslin, Aura Wilming, Bebe Nicholson, Charlotte Franklin, D Abboh, Dennett, Devon Henry, Dusty Craig, Elizabeth Helmich, Emily Carney, Erika Burkhalter, Esther Spurrill-Jones, Ezinne Ukoha, Gail Boenning, Georgia Mrkvicka Westphal, Gillian Sisley, Indira Reddy, Jenny Justice, Julie Greer, Kathy Jacobs, Louise Foerster, Louise Peacock, Jen Jarnefeldt, Marley K., Meghan McKie, Molly Martin, Nicole Dieker, Patsy Starke, Roz Warren, Ruby Lee, Sherry Kappel, Suzanne V. Tanner, Sylvia Wohlfarth, Terrye Turpin, Tracy Aston, Tamyka Bell (and those are just ones I follow). And, always, Tre L. Loadholt.
