March 8, 2011, With a poem by Carl Sandberg.
Photos by young Atlanta photographer Ail Rutherford were taken near Chatuge Dam, Hayesville, NC.
Women Washing Their Hair by Carl Sandburg
THEY have painted and sung
the women washing their hair,
and the plaits and strands in the sun,
and the golden combs
and the combs of elephant tusks
and the combs of buffalo horn and hoof.
The sun has been good to women,
drying their heads of hair
as they stooped and shook their shoulders
and framed their faces with copper
and framed their eyes with dusk or chestnut.
The rain has been good to women.
If the rain should forget,
if the rain left off for a year—
the heads of women would wither,
the copper, the dusk and chestnuts, go.
They have painted and sung
the women washing their hair—
reckon the sun and rain in, too.
the women washing their hair,
and the plaits and strands in the sun,
and the golden combs
and the combs of elephant tusks
and the combs of buffalo horn and hoof.
The sun has been good to women,
drying their heads of hair
as they stooped and shook their shoulders
and framed their faces with copper
and framed their eyes with dusk or chestnut.
The rain has been good to women.
If the rain should forget,
if the rain left off for a year—
the heads of women would wither,
the copper, the dusk and chestnuts, go.
They have painted and sung
the women washing their hair—
reckon the sun and rain in, too.
3 comments:
Dear Readers, I apologize for the one day late posting of International Woman's Day. I got the dreaded ERROR 400 and my blog locked down. Life goes on.
I love the poem and the photos, Nancy. So soft and feminine. I didn't know it was International Woman's Day.
I am for celebrating women every day. Thanks for this post.
I'm glad to celebrate women. We need all of the support and celebration that we can give each other.
Without women, we would have no earth, today. We keep humanity alive; women keep hope alive.
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