Surrender, a poem inspired by SWEET JANE, is published in Better than Starbucks’ July 2019 edition.

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Surrender is inspired by the scene in SWEET JANE when Jane, at her father’s request, selects a dress for her mother’s burial. Jane’s reluctant return to Odessa, after running away at sixteen, catapults her back to the events that made her the women she is.

https://anthonywatkins.wixsite.com/btsjul2019/poetry-free-verse

Surrender

Like forgotten flags from defunct nations

I placed them on the bed

They fell

Limp, synthetic, pastel rags

Which should l choose for her burial gown?

Pallid florals did not befit the memory of my mother

Rather, there should be clothing of

Blood red for her anger

Midnight black for her depression

White for her surrender

Rouge, noir, blanc

Pain, heartbreak, defeat

I threw them all away, detritus

I buried her in a white dress

Joanne Easley lives in the Texas Hill Country with her husband, and hree rescue terriers, where she devotes her time to writing.

After she runs away from home, Jane contemplates the Pacific and her problems with Jeremy in 1967. She vowed she would never return to Odessa after what Mama said to her.