Saturday, 25 June 2016

'A Complete History of Me' by Nan Wigington

One smelled of Russia. One smelled of tobacco. Two kissed in Kansas. One had two boys, five girls. One lost his job, came home drunk. Two fought. All the way through The Great Depression. One boy became a preacher, one a soldier. Two held their wives – one in his arms, one over the Missouri. Three girls became maids. Two quit, married. One was raped, never married. And five nieces, four nephews later, I find out that it is her I'm named after. 

5 comments:

  1. What a summary! Great compression of family identity. Wish I'd written it! Love your writing, Nan!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nan! Loved this piece! You are brilliant!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nan! Loved this piece! You are brilliant!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I. Love. This. It's a tiny story poem with a punch at the end. The repetition is wonderful. And I LOVE those first 3 lines! I agree with Anne - this is something I wish I'd written.

    ReplyDelete

FlashFlood 2023 is OPEN for submissions for one week only!

We are delighted to announce that we are open for submissions for FlashFlood 2023 from 12:01 a.m. BST on Sunday, 30 April to 23:59 BST on Sa...