inks on fire:  random sketches 06

zipping zippers
a sonnet


Mama had a zipper accident in her early adult dressing days;
she carried her zip-pinch phobia the rest of her 107.5 years.

her fear was not of dark nights, troubled days,
of bitter herbs, days without daily bread;
no dread of guns or knives or cunning flays
impeded where her lifelong journey led

she feared not man or beast or blatant fool
or loneliness or crowds or pregnancies
no circumstance her pluck could overrule
although she grappled with stark tragedies

my mother nursed but one untimely fear
not slippery slopes, steep climbs, or flipping slippers
the mystery you have come this far to hear
is that she was afraid of zipping zippers!

the ghost of fear oft boasts as though ‘twere real
courage alone his cunning can curtail

© Copyright 2023 February16
by Clyve A. Bowen♫