Douglas McHargue paints another lovely picture through her poem about the Maude Gatewood piece from the WOMAN MADE exhibit. She is photographed at the March 18, 2017 Art of Poetry event at Hickory Museum of Art.  Submissions to be considered for the June 17 stroll through the museum are due by Saturday, June 3, 2017. Photo courtesy of Roger and Ginny Sanford. 

Douglas McHargue
PRETEND PARADES
After “Umbrellas” by Maude Gatewood

Rain falls like stringed silver.
The woman does not see,
it is an annoyance
to her day, her life
on city concrete
that turns her face
to stone, her arms
granite slabs that feels
nothing, not even the man
who brushes against her
as they pass, umbrella shields.

Rain like this fell
in my old picture book,
kids walking to school
on shining sidewalks
past quaint shops,
laughing, talking,
a pretend parade
of people they were not yet,
but could be, nurses,
firemen, policemen,
fathers, mothers.
They called out Hayfoot,
Strawfoot, for left, right,
and marched together
into class where,
the story goes, they turned
into girls and boys again.

And what will this woman be
someday, that day when
she can feel arms,
what will she do with them
on that day of an unlocked door,
a folded umbrella.