My Mother is Coming!

My mom is coming from Finland on Saturday. She's staying for a week, and I'm nervous, 'cause this place leaves a lot to be desired. I really empathize with a poem written by Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple):

MY DAUGHTER IS COMING!

My daughter is coming!
I have bought her a bed
and a chair
a mirror, a lamp
and a desk.
Her room is all ready
except that the curtains
are torn.
Do I have time to buy shoji panels
for the window?
I do not.

First I must write a speech
see the doctor about my tonsils
which are dying ahead of schedule
see the barber and do a wash
cross the country
cross Brooklyn and Manhattan

Make A Speech
Read A Poem
liberate my daughter
from her father and Washington, D.C.
Recross the country
and present her to her room.

My daughter is coming!
Will she like her bed,
her chair, her mirror
desk and lamp
Or will she see only
the torn curtains?

—Alice Walker.


MY MOTHER IS COMING!