#56 Backstory of the Poem "The Seamstress" by Len Kuntz

Chris Rice Cooper 

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***This is the fifty-sixth in a never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific poem and how the poet wrote that specific poem.  All BACKSTORY OF THE POEM links are at the end of this piece. 

Below:  Title photo of Len Kuntz in April of 2018.  Copyright permission granted by Len Kuntz for this CRC Blog Post Only

#56 Backstory of the Poem

“The Seamstress”

by Len Kuntz

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form?   I actually just had the first line: “Our bathtub is filled with buttons.”  I’m not sure where it came from, but it struck me as something quite fertile.  Why would a bathtub be full of buttons?  Who put them there?  What kind of buttons?  How do other people react to discovering something like that?

     In a matter of a few minutes, I saw the couple quite vividly and the poem came to life almost on its own.

Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail.   Ha.  I was actually in the bathtub. (Right)  I used to have a nightly habit of taking a soak with bubbles and the jets running.  For whatever reason, as soon as I step into the water, the tub empties my mind, sort of like sorbet cleansing a pallet, and in a matter of minutes all kinds of odds and ends spring to mind.  That’s why I always have paper and pen handy no matter where I am. Even near the tub or shower.

What month and year did you start writing this poem?   This is an older poem, and the first in my collection, “The Dishonesty of Certain Mirrors,” out this year from Cervena Barva press.  So, it was written all the way back in March of 2016. (Left:  Kuntz doing a poetry reading in October of 2016.  Copyright permission granted by Len Kuntz for this CRC Blog Post Only) 

How many drafts of this poem did you write before going to the final? (And can you share a photograph of your rough drafts with pen markings on it?)   I am terrible example of diligence when it comes to re-writing and editing.  I hate both, and almost never do them.  I tend to just vomit out a poem or story within a few minutes.  I might change a word or two later, but if I don’t finish it at once, I usually never do.  Consequently, I have stacks and stacks of unfinished things piled up in my office that I nevertheless print out thinking someday I’ll go back to them, or use them for inspiration, yet I never do.  

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem?   When I first read this poem, in Chicago, someone in the audience chuckled at the beginning.  That caught me off guard, but now I can see some of the humor in it, especially at the end. (Left:  Kuntz at a poetry reading.  Copyright permission granted by Len Kuntz for this CRC Blog Post Only) 

Almost everything I write is dark, about a wounded person, or a person struggling with their problems, but almost always there’s an underbelly of hopefulness in the pieces, or I’d like to think so anyway.

In “The Seamstress” we have a woman suffering from severe dementia, remembering her glory days as a tailor to royalty.  Her husband is having to decide what steps to take regarding her illness, as well as his role in shepherding her through it.

To me, the most powerful part of the poem is the end because it’s tragic and lovely at the same time:

“When I look up

you’re there,

naked but smiling,

asking, “Is the water warm?”

Then, “Got room for two?”  


Has this poem been published before? And if so where?   Yes, in AUTUMN SKY POETRY.  The link is on my blog, on the righthand side under Words in Print, along with everything else I’ve had published online, which is about 800 or so pieces. 

Here’s the link: http://lenkuntz.blogspot.com/

Anything you would like to add?   My poetry almost always tendsto have a narrative arc of some sort.  I want to capture a defining moment or situation, and shine an intense light on it.  It’s usually not too hard for the reader to know what’s going on, and I’m okay with that, in fact, that’s the notion.  Still, I want to language to jostle the reader, make them twitch or sigh, of if I’m really lucky say, “Wow.”

The Seamstress

Our bathtub is filled with buttons–

mother of pearl and metal,

plastic pea coat shapes with

embossed anchors,

wooden toggles from Holland,

horn and hemp.

Your hair is a gray dandelion gone to seed.

Your eyes flit like a startled squirrel

and saliva webs your mouth when

you open the door saying,

“What on earth?”

Later in bed that night

I listen to your coarse breath,

your frail bones moaning when you toss and turn.

But we were young once,

and you stitched beautiful things then.

You dressed queens and saints,

men with money.

I slink off the mattress now,

and click on the bathroom light.

As I slide inside the tub

the buttons chatter and gossip,

their color shimmering.

Perhaps you clipped them

because they reminded you of better days,

or maybe you overhead me on the phone with the rest home folks.

Either way, I grab handfuls and watch them clatter

across the great heap.

When I look up,

you’re there,

naked but smiling,

asking, “Is the water warm?”

Then, “Got room for two?”

Len Kuntz is a writer from Washington State and the author of four books, most recently the poetry collection, “The Dishonesty of Certain Mirrors,” out now from Cervena Barva Press, and the story collection, “This Is Why I Need You,” forthcoming in January 2019 from Ravenna Press.  You can also find more of his work at

http://lenkuntz.blogspot.com/

Lenk98290@hotmail.com

BACKSTORY OF THE POEM LINKS

001  December 29, 2017

Margo Berdeshevksy’s “12-24”

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-new-crc-blog-series-backstory-of-poem.html

002  January 08, 2018

Alexis Rhone Fancher’s “82 Miles From the Beach, We Order The Lobster At Clear Lake Café”

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-new-crc-blog-series-backstory-of-poem.html

003 January 12, 2018

Barbara Crooker’s “Orange”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-new-crc-blog-series-backstory-of-poem_12.html

004 January 22, 2018

Sonia Saikaley’s “Modern Matsushima”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-fourth-installment-of-new-crc-blog.html

005 January 29, 2018

Ellen Foos’s “Side Yard”

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/5-backstory-of-poem-sidewalk-by-ellen.html

006 February 03, 2018

Susan Sundwall’s “The Ringmaster”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/6-backstory-of-poem-susan-sundwalls.html

007 February 09, 2018

Leslea Newman’s “That Night”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/7-backstory-of-poem-that-night-by.html

008 February 17, 2018

Alexis Rhone Fancher “June Fairchild Isn’t Dead”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/8-backstory-of-poem-june-fairchild-isnt.html

009 February 24, 2018

Charles Clifford Brooks III “The Gift of the Year With Granny”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/02/9-backstory-of-poem-gift-of-year-with.html

010 March 03, 2018

Scott Thomas Outlar’s “The Natural Reflection of Your Palms”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/chris-ricecooper-caccoopaol.html

011 March 10, 2018

Anya Francesca Jenkins’s “After Diane Beatty’s Photograph “History Abandoned”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/11-backstory-of-poem-after-diane.html

012  March 17, 2018

Angela Narciso Torres’s “What I Learned This Week”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/12-backstory-of-poem-series-angela.html

013 March 24, 2018

Jan Steckel’s “Holiday On ICE”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/13-backstory-of-poem-jan-steckels.html

014 March 31, 2018

Ibrahim Honjo’s “Colors”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/14-backstory-of-poem-ibrahim-honjos.html

015 April 14, 2018

Marilyn Kallett’s “Ode to Disappointment”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/04/15-backstory-of-poem-ode-to_14.html

016  April 27, 2018

Beth Copeland’s “Reliquary”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/04/16-backstory-of-poem-reliquary-by-beth.html

017  May 12, 2018

Marlon L Fick’s “The Swallows of Barcelona”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/05/17-backstory-of-poem-swallows-of.html

018  May 25, 2018

Juliet Cook’s “ARTERIAL DISCOMBOBULATION”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/05/18-backstory-of-poem-arterial.html

019  June 09, 2018

Alexis Rhone Fancher’s “Stiletto Killer. . . A Surmise”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/06/19-backstory-of-poem-stiletto-killer.html

020 June 16, 2018

Charles Rammelkamp’s “At Last I Can Start Suffering”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/06/20-backstory-of-poem-at-least-i-can.html

021  July 05, 2018

Marla Shaw O’Neill’s “Wind Chimes”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/21-backstory-of-poem-wind-chimes-by.html

022 July 13, 2018

Julia Gordon-Bramer’s “Studying Ariel”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/22-backstory-of-poem-studying-ariel-by.html

023 July 20, 2018

Bill Yarrow’s “Jesus Zombie”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/23-backstory-of-poem-jesus-zombie-by.html

024  July 27, 2018

Telaina Eriksen’s “Brag 2016”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/24-backstory-of-poem-brag-2016-by.html

025  August 01, 2018

Seth Berg’s “It is only Yourself that Bends – so Wake up!”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/25-backstory-of-poem-it-is-only.html

026  August 07, 2018

David Herrle’s “Devil In the Details”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/26-backstory-of-poem-devil-in-details.html

027  August 13, 2018

Gloria Mindock’s “Carmen Polo, Lady Necklaces, 2017”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/27-backstory-of-poem-carmen-polo-lady.html

028  August 21, 2018

Connie Post’s “Two Deaths”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/28-backstory-of-poem-two-deaths-by.html

029  August 30, 2018

Mary Harwell Sayler’s “Faces in a Crowd”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/08/29-backstory-of-poem-faces-in-crowd-by.html

030 September 16, 2018

Larry Jaffe’s “The Risking Point”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/09/30-backstory-of-poem-risking-point-by.html

031  September 24, 2018

Mark Lee Webb’s “After We Drove”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/09/31-backstory-of-poem-after-we-drove-by.html

032  October 04, 2018

Melissa Studdard’s “Astral”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/32-backstory-of-poem-astral-by-melissa.html

033 October 13, 2018

Robert Craven’s “I Have A Bass Guitar Called Vanessa”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/33-backstory-of-poem-i-have-bass-guitar.html

034  October 17, 2018

David Sullivan’s “Paper Mache Peaches of Heaven”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/34-backstory-of-poem-paper-mache.html

035 October 23, 2018

Timothy Gager’s “Sobriety”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/35-backstory-of-poem-sobriety-by.html

036  October 30, 2018

Gary Glauber’s “The Second Breakfast”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/10/36-backstory-of-poem-second-breakfast.html

037  November 04, 2018

Heather Forbes-McKeon’s “Melania’s Deaf Tone Jacket”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/37-backstory-of-poem-melanias-deaf-tone.html

038 November 11, 2018

Andrena Zawinski’s “Women of the Fields”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/38-backstory-of-poem-women-of-fields-by.html

039  November 00, 2018

Gordon Hilger’s “Poe”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/39-backstory-of-poem-poe-by-gordon.html

040 November 16, 2018

Rita Quillen’s “My Children Question Me About Poetry” and “Deathbed Dreams”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/40-backstory-of-poems-my-children.html

041 November 20, 2018

Jonathan Kevin Rice’s “Dog Sitting”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/41-backstory-of-poem-dog-sitting-by.html

042 November 22, 2018

Haroldo Barbosa Filho’s “Mountain”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/42-backstory-of-poem-mountain-by.html

043  November 27, 2018

Megan Merchant’s “Grief Flowers”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/43-backstory-of-poem-grief-flowers-by.html

044 November 30, 2018

Jonathan P Taylor’s “This poem is too neat”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/11/44-backstory-of-poem-poem-is-too-neat.html

045  December 03, 2018

Ian Haight’s “Sungmyo for our Dead Father-in-Law”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/045-backstory-of-poem-sungmyo-for-our.html

046 December 06, 2018

Nancy Dafoe’s “Poem in the Throat”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/046-backstory-of-poem-poem-registering.html

047 December 11, 2018

Jeffrey Pearson’s “Memorial Day”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/47-backstory-of-poem-memorial-day-by.html

048  December 14, 2018

Frank Paino’s “Laika”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/48-backstory-of-poem-laika-by-frank.html

049  December 15, 2018

Jennifer Martelli’s “Anniversary”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/49-backstory-of-poem-anniversary-by.html

O50  December 19, 2018

Joseph Ross’s “For Gilberto Ramos, 15, Who Died in the Texas Desert, June 2014”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/50-backstory-of-poem-for-gilberto-ramos.html

051 December 23, 2018

“The Persistence of Music”

by Anatoly Molotkov

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/51-backstory-of-poem-persistence-of.html

052  December 27, 2018

“Under Surveillance”

by Michael Farry

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/52-backstory-of-poem-under-surveillance.html

053  December 28, 2018

“Grand Finale”

by Renuka Raghavan

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/53-backstory-of-poem-grand-finale-by.html

054  December 29, 2018

“Aftermath”

by Gene Barry

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/12/54-backstory-of-poem-aftermath-by-gene.html

055 January 2, 2019

“&”

by Larissa Shmailo

http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/55-backstory-of-poem-by-larissa-shmailo_5.html

056  January 7, 2019

“The Seamstress:

by Len Kuntz
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/01/56-backstory-of-poem-seamstress-by-len_6.html