Brent House

 

Mat

My mother's kitchen sink mat is curled
around the edges, despite the crinkled black rubber backing 
designed to hold it to the floor.
It says Welcome 
with an earth-tone background 
and fruits around the border.
She stood there for most of my childhood.
I'm not sure she wasn't happy. The dishes of another meal 
lined on the counter
ready for her attendance. Her son studying 
at the end of the kitchen table. 
Her husband watching the news from his recliner.
Her oscillating fan clipped on the bottom of the cupboard,
blowing steam from the rinse water
into the creases of her face.
She stood and stomped at the corners of her life.

 

Brent House spent his childhood in Necaise Crossing MS but currently resides in Hattiesburg, MS. He is studying Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Southern Mississippi. Brent's work has recently appeared in Blood and Fire Review.

 

 

 

Beauty for Ashes Poetry Review ©1996-2000
©A Creative Ash Publication 2000
Isaiah 61:1-3

 

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