Poem (sort of): Party Dress and Carnaval Picture

Only today I have had faster access to the Internet. I can post! I wrote this poem from a conversation with Dulce Maria. The Carnaval picture has a title, "An image conveys more than a 1000 words" or "At least I can laugh about it" or, finally, "Brazilian culture at its best with humor". Finally, "Better laugh than cry."



Party Dress

Dulce Maria
Sweet Mary
does not know how to drive
Her husband never allowed it
through their marriage
“Never learned it.
I do not know why I was like that…”

Only after the divorce did she get her first job
Now she’s retired
with social security
receiving
a small pension every month
“My husband never allowed me to work,
he was jealous…”

She had a modest occupation
a friend with connections
helped her get
“It did not require a diploma.
My husband would not allow me to go to school.”
No studies for Dulce Maria

The husband
many years her senior
died from diabetes
soon after the divorce.
“A gentleman, during courtship.
But he drank,” she said.

“Driving drunk one day he almost killed us!
Four children, three boys, and a girl.
I told him to stop the car and ordered the children out.
We walked home.
The one with the mental problems today
refused to leave his daddy in the car by himself.
He never came with us.”

“Another time he drank so much
I took a cab home and saved my life.
He ended the night in the hospital,
banged up
his dream car totaled, smashed right on the
passenger’s side.
“He didn’t believe in insurance,”
…

Divorce and death freed Dulce Maria

Now she loves to design clothes
sending fabric and patterns for the seamstress
to sow her dreams:
details in crochet
lace to adorn
intricate designs with subtle twists,
weavings,
knots
like the lives of women.

“This used to be my wedding dress, the lace is French Chantilly.
It was white, of course.
I had it cut and dyed black
after the divorce.”

She clipped the top off,
bought some black taffeta
for the new skirt
inserted the dyed lace in the front
to resemble a Flamenco dancer’s.

From the virginal gown
Dulce Maria got herself a new party dress.