Impasse, by Janis Greve

The Dress Marcia Gave Linda, by Dix McComas (USA) contemporary. Click on image for artist site.

​Impasse                                                                                                      
 
The dress Marcia gave Linda 
hangs in the balance, stranded in the middle 
 
of Marcia and Linda, Marcia having long retreated,  
Linda finally setting it down 
 
on this long board of shadow and light. 
 
Everything is suspended between Marcia   
and Linda : the muted ends of the ironing board, 
 
the iron versus the plug, the rumpled acquiescence of the dress 
with its hint of a grandma’s apron 
 
before the upright iron’s dead weight. 
 
One day,  
Linda will answer the call of the iron’s handle, 
swinging the pensive face into action 
as if moved by sudden resolve 
to rescue a wrinkled cry, 
 
Marcia’s yellows and greens rallying    
beneath the rhythm of Linda’s elbow,   
 
the ageless, ordinary grace 
of countless elbows before. 
 
Only then  
can the skirmish of necklines  
with the blunt-haired woman on the wall 
 
and the ragged trees mend with the glorious truth 
that nobody wants this dress. 

Janis Greve

Janis Greve teaches literature at UMass Amherst, specializing in autobiography, disability studies, and service-learning. She has previously published in such places as The Florida Review, North American Review, The Berkshire Review, and more.