mary belles

Creative Forums Creative Writing
1

i read your diary,
from 1908.
you referred often to
your granddaughter, ‘little stella.’
i knew her differently than you
for stella was my grandmother,
as you were hers.
and, yes, she was special, as you wrote.
very much so.

your life was hard.
papa, as you called your husband,
found work where he could
while you tended the garden
and the chickens.
sometimes papa would be away for days.
you’d get lonely but you’d pray
for strength. and you’d receive it.
yes, you were strong.

you’d always bake six loaves of bread at a time.
i don’t know why six.
one day you “planted peas and corn,
and walked into town to pay the
building and loan.”
i wonder how far the walk was,
and how much money was left
after you made the payment.

you went to some funerals that year.
neighbors, friends, family members.
you enjoyed company.
people would come over and visit.
your daughter would bring
little stella over from time to time.
and you never missed a sunday
church service.

for one whole week in july
the only entries you wrote were
“sew, iron, pick up berries.”
every day that week you wrote that.
on lincoln’s birthday you wrote,
“a grand and good man.”
on mother’s day your daughter
gave you a white carnation
which you wore to church. you wrote:
“the only flower ever bought for me.”
thanksgiving day papa was
working out of town.
you spent the day alone.

many days you wrote poetry.
one day you wrote:
“if i were a bird,
i’d sing and soar,
until i stood
at heaven’s door,
and ask the angels to look down,
and bless the sad in every town.”
i wonder what possessed
you to write that, and if you
created it yourself.
i like it very much.

i read your diary,
from 1908.
you, a piece of me,
and the words you left behind
have made you real to me.
nice to meet you, mary belles,
almost a hundred years later.
i found tears in my eyes
when I learned that you died
the very next year.
funny i would find those.
i thought of one particular day’s entry:
“now i’m resting,
sweetly resting in the cleft once made for me,
jesus, blessed rock of ages,
i will hide myself in thee.”

.

2

It was nice of you to introduce mary belles to us rainey. It was a worthy introduction.

3

thank you DEB, very much.

yes, mary was a special lady. seemingly a simple woman in simpler times, yet her diary was one of the most fascinating things i have ever read. there was an uncommon depth there. and to know she was my great, great grandmother made it more special still.

4

This is the single most moving poem I have read all year rainey. Utterly beautiful. Thank you.

A

5

thank you for the kind words angel. you know i think you would have liked mary, and i’m sure she would have liked you.

6

Wow, that’s the sweetest thing anyone has said to me around these parts. Thanks rainey.

A

7

Nice nostalgic poem, rainey. Is this Mary Belles a real person??

8

oh yes, CS. very real. she was, in fact, my great, great grandmother.

9

Ah. It must’ve been a very strange thing to read it.