The Staying Power of Scarlet

 

“Just hold on and suck in.”

Scarlett grips the bedpost while Mammy yanks on the corset and cinches Scarlett’s waist down to 18-1/2 inches.

Laces her up right tight.

Molds her right to form.

Bones bear down to bear her in.

I think about bone that once bore down on another’s side, fragments that raked across a bare back.

Over and over until a scarlet river flowed.

He bore the bones to bear us up.

Corsets were once called “stays,” I think.

I think about the staying power of scarlet,

about the scarlet cord that keeps us laced to His side,

a spiritual stay of sorts.

And I suck in and hold on.

 

 

In the stillness,

Sandy

A repost