Not like that, like this.
How to make pastry, how to tie a tie.
(Both of which defeat me.)
My mother always said she would have liked to be a
housekeeper
and she seemed most relaxed
organizing the world.
Her way was the way, whatever Buddha said.
Pain was buried under piles of laundry
and a problem solved was a problem ironed.
I learned it was pointless talking:
feelings were foreign, like particle physics
and best left to the professionals.
Tears were private and quickly got over
and if you loved someone, you polished their shoes.
*
The last time she visited my flat – God couldn’t have stopped her –
she cleaned my windows.
Then: – wham!
Is there anything you want to ask me?
No, Mum. No. Nothing at all.
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Tanya Parker
Tanya won the Yorkshire Open Poetry Competition in 2008 and the Rydale Competition in 2013. She was Reviews Editor for Dream Catcher Magazine for five years and has poetry published in Orbis Acumen, Other Poetry and Poetry Nottingham, amongst others. She appeared as guest writer on Helen Burke’s radio show ‘Word Salad’ for East Leeds FM (twice) and has performed in International Women’s Week with Real People Theatre. Tanya performed with Rose Drew in ‘She’s the Cultured One’ at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2011, at the Galtres Festival in July 2013 and a specially-commissioned show at the Keats Shelley House in Rome in May 2014.Her first full-length poetry collection ‘The Problem with Beauty’ appeared with Stairwell Books in September 2015. She is currently working on an M.A in Creative Writing with Leeds Trinity University.
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