Home Page » book quote » Things to Say to a Dead Man: Poems at the End of a Marriage and After » 20217
from Taking Your Clothes to the Salvation Army:Okay, so strangers will be grateful for this, will wear the socks to keep their feet warm, blow their noses in your handkerchiefs, pull up the shorts, tuck in the size large shirts {too small for our boys, too big for our daughter}, and bits of you will be out there, engaging in a life you no longer have.
by Jane Yolen
(0 Reviews)

In Jane Yolen's collection of poems, "Things to Say to a Dead Man: Poems at the End of a Marriage and After," she reflects on the emotional journey of letting go of personal items, specifically through the act of donating clothes to the Salvation Army. The poem captures the sense of loss and nostalgia that accompanies this act, highlighting how clothing once associated with cherished memories will find new life with strangers.

The author poignantly illustrates the bittersweet nature of separation from her past, where her belongings will be utilized by others in ways she can no longer experience. Through this lens, Yolen conveys the idea that these items carry pieces of her identity, intertwining her past with the present lives of those who will wear them, thus allowing parts of her former life to continue on in the world.

Stats

Categories
book quote
Book
Things to Say to a Dead Man: Poems at the End of a Marriage and After
Author
Jane Yolen
Votes
0
Page views
17
Update
February 10, 2025
Report
Report a Problem

Rate the Quote

Add Comment & Review

User Reviews

Based on 0 reviews
5 Star
0
4 Star
0
3 Star
0
2 Star
0
1 Star
0
Add Comment & Review
We'll never share your email with anyone else.
More »

Other quotes in Things to Say to a Dead Man: Poems at the End of a Marriage and After

Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen
More »

Other quotes in book quote

Simone Elkeles
Simone Elkeles
Simone Elkeles
Simone Elkeles
Simone Elkeles
Simone Elkeles
More »

Popular quotes

Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.
by Mitch Albom
All our human endeavours are like that, she reflected, and it is only because we are too ignorant to realize it, or are too forgetful to remember it, that we have the confidence to build something that is meant to last.
by Alexander McCall Smith
The value of money is subjective, depending on age. At the age of one, one multiplies the actual sum by 145,000, making one pound seem like 145,000 pounds to a one-year-old. At seven – Bertie's age – the multiplier is 24, so that five pounds seems like 120 pounds. At the age of twenty four, five pounds is five pounds; at forty five it is divided by 5, so that it seems like one pound and one pound seems like twenty pence. {All figures courtesy of Scottish Government Advice Leaflet: Handling your Money.}
by Alexander McCall Smith
In fact, none of us knows how he ever managed to get his LLB in the first place. Maybe they're putting law degrees in cornflakes boxes these days.
by Alexander McCall Smith
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins.
by Mitch Albom
Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.
by Mitch Albom
You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.
by Mitch Albom
we get so many lives between birth and death. A life to be a child. A life to come of age. A life to wander, to settle, to fall in love, to parent, to test our promise, to realize our mortality-and, in some lucky cases, to do something after that realization.
by Mitch Albom
Where there's bluster, thinks Luisa, there's duplicity
by David Mitchell
I have the tendency to be nervous at the sight of trouble looming. As the danger draws near, I become less nervous. When the peril is at hand, I swell with fierceness. As I grapple with my assailant, I am without fear and fight to the finish with little thought of injury.
by Jean Sasson
All Categories »

Categories

love
inspirational
history
soul