Tuesday Poem - Ode to Clothes Pegs (Helen McKinlay)

July 31, 2012 by Elizabeth | 10 Comments

I am rather tickled to be able to post this poem – ‘Ode to Clothes Pegs’ – by the very talented & fellow Tuesday Poet, Helen McKinlay. From the first reading of this modern ode, I loved the humour and word play that Helen so cleverly weaves throughout, proclaiming the rather mundane life of the humble clothes peg. In particular, I really relish the list that she employs: ‘you are the seal on my food bag / the art deco in my hair / the clip on my trouser cuffs’. There is such bathos to the poem, such exaltation of the everyday in a decidedly tongue-in-cheek way – it makes for a refreshed, buoyant poem, full of laughs. Many thanks go out to Helen for letting me post it!

Ode to Clothes Pegs 

Be you wooden plastic
sprung unsprung
your virtue
as a helpmate
is the same.

I cannot count
the ways
of your constancy.
And did you think
I hadn’t noticed
your ability to hold on

in high velocity situations?
I am proud too
that you hold your face
to the sun
unafraid to fade your beauty.

It comforts me
to gaze at you online
a string of bright butterflies
waiting for my pleasure.

Oh pegs
so much of life is in your grip.
You are the seal
on my food bag
the art deco
in my hair
the clip
on my trouser cuffs.
You will be there
until I
peg out.
And I want you

to know
that if I do succumb
to the hot spin
of a clothes dryer
we’ll still hang together
often.

For more of Helen’s wonderful poetry, do check out her webpage, here. Be sure to head on over to the Tuesday Poem blog hub this week, as well, where Orchid Tierney has posted a fascinating experimental poet, Terry Mole, along with an erudite discussion of his diverse range of works.

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