Gilded Age

Their beautiful lives adorn us...

Note: Today’s poem is a guest post from Jodie Meyn who writes You are Here, the life and letters of a Midwest Housewife.

Photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash

Gilded Age

Once upon a gilded age
We waltzed in layers of lace, 
Flaunted silks on chiffons on taffeta. 
Molly Browns on the road from nowhere
Dancing in red gowns, sleeping in brass beds

We embroidered our comforts, 
Draped our mahogany in doilies, 
Our households in curtains and cloths. 
On certain nights, we’d wear ALL the jewels 
Broaches on pearls on diamonds.

We coveted a stole, the richness 
And warmth of fur. Traded that in 
For shoulder pads and pastel
Golden Girls’ dresses, white heels and nylons, 
Style and set do's ala AquaNet,
Material girls and piles of pop princesses. 

And now our tiaras are our daughters
Our diamonds in pink dorm rooms, 
Our peridots of promise on display. 
They lip-sync their waltzes and collapse
Into a bed of soft riches, delivered from 
Every corner of China via an Amazonian warehouse 

The triumph of their moving up 
To this comfortable life of learning, 
Teetering with trepidation on a two foot high wire
Above a cloud of care 
Is our end of summer ball. 

We’ve checked these boxes and we 
Keep them safe in boxes and we fill 
Their room with boxes to make sure they 
Have boxes of their own to check, 
So that we can wear them, show them off, 
These colorful feathers in our social haberdashery.

Their beautiful lives adorn us,
Cover our aging necks. 
We wear quiet gloves in tenderest attention
Tread lightly on the floorboards of their youth
So fleeting and fraught and fun.

We curate and collect 
Our tastefully gaudy, gilded life 
Covering our pride and trepidation 
In ball gowns of content
Whose layers, in greatest satisfaction, 
Rattle and rustle when we dance. 

---

Read more from Jodie at:

---

If you enjoyed this post, please hit the ♡ to let us know.

If you have any thoughts about it, leave a comment.

If you think others would like it, hit re-stack or share:

If you’d like to read more:

And if you’d like to help create more Juke, upgrade to a paid subscription (same button above). Otherwise, you can always contribute a one-time donation via Paypal or Venmo.