Rita Dove

Ms. Dove, the Poetess
Biography
1987 Reading
Speaking at the 2007 Poets Forum


From poets.org:
Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1952. She served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995. Among her many honors are the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, the 1996 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities and the 2006 Common Wealth Award. President Bill Clinton bestowed upon her the 1996 National Humanities Medal.

My Mother Enters the Work Force
The path to ABC Business School
was paid for by a lucky sign:
Alterations, Qualified Seamstress
Inquire Within.

Tested on Sleeves, hers
never puckered -- puffed or sleek,
Leg o' or Raglan -- they barely
needed the damp cloth
to steam them perfect.


Those were the afternoons.
Evenings she took in piecework,
the treadle machine with its
locomotive whir traveling the lit path
of the needle through quicksand
taffeta or velvet deep as a forest.


And now and now sang the treadle,
I know, I know....


And then it was day again,
all morning at the office machines,
their clack and chatter
another journey -- rougher,
that would go on forever
until she could break a hundred words
with no errors -- ah, and then


No more postponed groceries,
and that blue pair of shoes!

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I love that poem so much because Ms. Dove captures the true calling of a Poetess. She reminds me of a modern day Felicia Hemans.
Another Great Rita Link