(Please note: I wrote this blog in the first days of March in preparation for National Poetry Month. At the time, there were no stay-at-home orders, and I was lucky because that meant … well, it meant many things, for which I am now extra grateful.)
As I am writing this, it is early March, and my parents are in my house—my father working on his computer in his makeshift “desk” at my kitchen table, and my mother by the fireplace in the den, sorting out a jigsaw puzzle. They traveled over three hundred miles to take care of me for a medical procedure I will have tomorrow morning. The recovery, I am told, will be two weeks, and while my dog comes in quite handy for barking at people who come to the door, she is not much help when it comes to making food or helping me shower. My husband has full days at work, and it’s hard in his line of business to drop everything and stay at home so he can retrieve a glass of water for me or help me take pain medication. My parents offered to come and take me to the procedure and stay for a few days afterward because they wanted to make things easier for me.
They have always, always wanted to make things easier for me.
Which brings me to this poem by Ada Limón.
I read this poem for the first time last year, and I immediately wished I had written it. But it’s not the first poem by Ada Limón that I have envied and loved. I have used “How to Triumph Like a Girl” to open many of my author talks. The problem is it chokes me up every time. So does this poem.
I doubt you need to have loving parents to love this poem, but it’s what I have.
Most of all, I hope this poem speaks to you.
You can listen to Robert McCready recite Ada Limón’s poem on his Evening Magic YouTube Channel here.
During the month of April, which is National Poetry Month, I am sharing a poem each week with you from a contemporary writer. I hope to pique your interest in poetry, if it needs to be piqued, and to show you that a really great poem can be accessible to all.
May you all be safe and well.
This poem is published here with permission from the author. You can find “The Raincoat” in Ada Limón’s latest poetry collection, The Carrying. You can learn more about Ada Limón here.
Photo of two people by Tim Cooper from Unsplash.com
My Short Story Collection
Will Officially Be Released May 3
The UPS guy showed up with one box, and then another.
"Where do you want these?" he asked.
"Are there more?" I said.
"Yep," he said and went back to his truck and returned with two more.
I thought, well, I guess my husband ordered something—a lot of something, apparently.
But no, they were from Kevin Morgan Watson and Press 53, for me.
(Link for details)