Art that opens conversation...
from Pioneering: Poems from the Construction Site (1998)
Following the Blueprints
To the open possibility
of steel against sky
we weld, bolt and strap
wide staircases of marble, arched
skylights, commanding views
serviced by windowless corridors
where ceilings hang low, as though
the ones who will push carts and carry trays
are unusually small or,
prefer to scurry like mice
in closed dark spaces
or, as though
extra headroom might give them
ideas.
Pioneering
for the tradeswomen of '78
She had walked into their party uninvited
wedging a welcome mat in the doorway
for other women she hoped would
follow along soon.
The loud ones argued
to throw her out immediately. Even her supporters
found her audacity annoying. But once they saw
she mingled with everyone
drank American beer
kept conversations going during awkward silences
and was backed up by law
the controversy
calmed.
She surprised them.
She was reliable. She always gave her best.
She was invited back.
She became a regular ––
always on the fringe
expected to help out
just a little more.
When she stopped coming
they were confused. Why now? Hadn't she
challenged custom? stared down rumors? ingratiated herself
years ago? so that now her presence was only
mildly discomforting. She never explained.
After all those years hurling back cannonballs
womanizing the barricades firing
only if she saw the whites of their eyes
it was the lonesomeness
of pioneering
that broke her resistance.
All those silences
about what mattered
most in her life
had worn her
like the slow eating away of acid on metal:
the damage only visible over time.
Selected Poetry
Pioneering
All poems copyright Susan Eisenberg.
