A Jar of Buttons

photo by thebrendablog.typepad.com

A Jar of Buttons

This is a core sample

from the floor of the Sea of Mending,

a cylinder packed with shells
that over many years

sank through fathoms of shirts -
pearl buttons, blue buttons -

and settled together
beneath waves of perseverance,

an ocean upon which
generations of women set forth,

under the sails of gingham curtains,
and, seated side by side

on decks sometimes salted by tears,
made small but important repairs.

-Ted Kooser from his Pulizer Prize winning poetry collection Delights and Shadows
Do you have that jar of buttons with many stories to tell?

Comments

  1. Anonymous10.9.08

    I love button collections.

    That's really all I have to say about it. I just love them. I can't explain why, just that I do.

    Thanks for the reminder.

    ReplyDelete

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