This Girl
by Donna JT Smith
I wore a hat –
And that was that –
Not of a child
But grownup styled;
Eldest of four,
First out the door,
This girl of serious face.
A quiet child –
I wasn’t wild –
No waves to make,
No rafters shake;
Yet in my head
I often shed
This girl of serious face.
Under chapeau,
My thoughts aglow
Of hows and whys,
And butterflies,
Of deepest seas,
A shadow’s tease,
This girl of serious face.
Beware when grown;
Hat-free, hair-blown,
I’d toss my cover,
Embrace my lover,
Sing loud my song
And say “so long”
To this girl of serious face.
PHOTOGRAPH: I’m in the back row right, behind my sister on Easter, 1962, in Maine.
PAINTING: “Jeune fille au chapeau fleuri” by Kees van Dongen (1907-09).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donna JT Smith has written many poems and a good portion of them may be found on her blog: Mainely Write (mainelywrite.blogspot.com). Retired after many years of teaching in the elementary schools, she now finds more time to focus on her writing, to dabble in watercolors, and maybe sing a little more freely, where she lives quite comfortably with her amazing husband, their foolish Yellow Lab, and a talkative cat on the coast of Maine.
Silver Birch Press 
Should have said more in the description…
When I saw this photo, I was drawn to the hat and the grown up little girl look in her eyes. I was the quiet and responsible one that literally and figuratively wore a grown up hat.
In reading about this picture I found that this is actually the artist’s daughter who is wearing a hat that some of his older models had worn. So she is really a little girl in a grown up hat.
I threw off my “grown up” hat as I got older. My “lover’ for life – my forever husband – not only endures, but joins me in my second childhood!
I love your poem and the pictures are just great! Good write and keep writing!
Hats off to you! I like this poem very much.
I’m smiling! What a perfect outfit you’ve assembled, topped off with my favorite things in stanza three. And guess what! Like you, that girl could be me! God bless you. Thank you!
I love the pairing of the two pictures, Donna. You’ve brought the girl in the painting into the 20th century with your own experience. I was also “Eldest of four,
First out the door,” wore hats to church and grew up in Maine. We’re probably of the same age!
Love the way you ended the poem with the real you, Donna, and love seeing the family picture. That’s us, all dressed up.
Lovely poem, Donna! I would have been drawn to van Dongen’s painting and those intriguing eyes, too. She definitely has “thoughts aglow.”