Three Poems

 

by Amanda Laughtland

 

 

 

 

Youth Is the Time to Economize

 

 

Drab adages of pennies saved

have something to them

when husbands don’t turn up

and last wills of well-heeled aunts

fail to mention you.  As you age

 

you’ll know the best clothes

and exotic foods, the imported perfume

that’s ideal for you.  Fortunate

is the lady who lets her money

mature like good scotch — then it spends

 

with a kick to it, not the tame

daily pleasure of tea or lemonade.

 

 

 

 

Worth Your Effort

 

 

A meal for one needn’t be

elaborate but should always have

 

one hot dish.  There isn’t

the nourishment in ice-box foods

 

to strengthen you.  Set dinner on a table

beside the fire or on the balcony

 

and dress for it.  A woman

who looks like she expects a suitor

 

is likely to have several.

 

 

 

 

The Hard Truth

 

 

Whether or not a woman’s had

her moments, she keeps this

to herself.  A woman pays

in countless shabby ways

 

until the inevitable end, and then

she pays again.  You’re accustomed

to paying for everything from rent

to pearls.  We don’t expect

 

we’ll stop you.  Maybe

the experience will seem worthwhile.

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda Laughtland lives just north of Seattle, Washington, where she teaches at Edmonds Community College.  Her book, Postcards to Box 464, was published in 2010, the second volume in Bootstrap’s Plein Air series curated by Tyler Doherty and Tom Morgan.  Her chapbook, Take it, is a free download from ungovernable press.  She publishes both handmade and professionally printed books and zines under her imprint, Teeny Tiny.  She has work in E·ratio Issue 8.