Friday from the Archives: “East End, West End,” the 2014 James Applewhite Poetry Prize Winner
by Elizabeth W. Jackson in NCLR 2015
Elizabeth W. Jackson is a practicing psychologist and freelance writer. She has published in a variety of fields, including psychology and the visual arts. She works and teaches creative writing as a health practice in Raleigh.
“East End, West End”
Her uniforms look like nursing scrubs –
tropical print tops, solid teal bottoms – no more white
button-up dresses that made her skin seem dark as charred wood.
Louise sits on her stool by the stove as Mrs. Jamison talks
between mouthfuls of oatmeal. I have to tell you
what happened last night, and Louise nods, smiling
as she turns to the window to listen. Mrs. Jamison, hair gray
and frizzled, recites the dialogue, Puck playing all parts,
and Louise keels over laughing despite herself.
Usually, it’s Mrs. Jamison who loses track.
Hunting for lost keys, she’ll stop to admire
the bright silver service, the mahogany
Georgian sideboard while her fingers linger.
Louise, sifting through stacks of catalogs,
piles of designer dresses, still tagged,
always recovers them. But recently,
leaving the grocery store, they forked apart.
Mrs. Jamison kidded: Now, Louise, what am I going to do
if you can’t help me remember where the car is?
Louise chuckles: We’ll have to look out
for each other. Evenings, she buses home,
across town, her cozy apartment a buffer
against the sound of sirens. Mornings back.
Over and over, splitting off, merging in.
Add the NCLR 2015 issue to your collection. And prep your poems for this year’s Applewhite Prize contest!
