Domestic Goddess | Teen Ink

Domestic Goddess MAG

December 26, 2008
By Anonymous

My
mother told
me that if I were smart, I too
would become a domestic goddess, like her.
For one thing, she says that they are the wisest of women
armed with the sacred knowledge that tonic water can eradicate most stains
or that baking soda in the refrigerator can keep most meats from spoiling too quickly.
She argues that Aphrodite’s beauty pales in comparison to the colors of laundered clothes
and a supper of tepid, golden chicken that only an experienced domestic goddess can achieve.
Our home is her Mt. Olympus
and the kitchen serves as Mother’s temple,
despite the fact that there is no sculpture erected in her honor,
unless you want to count the vanilla candle that I made for her last Christmas.
Her nimble fingers scold my clumsier ones as they falter over slicing salad greens.
I say that Homer has a broader mind’s eye than any goddess, I’d much rather write The Iliad.



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This article has 69 comments.


Evaine SILVER said...
on Dec. 12 2010 at 8:21 am
Evaine SILVER, Schulkill Haven, Pennsylvania
8 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
live a freak, die a legend

thats really sweet and very creative! :)

 


on Nov. 21 2010 at 12:22 am
kmarie14 PLATINUM, Hyrum, Utah
22 articles 5 photos 245 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is either an adventure...or nothing" -Helen Keller

:) gotta love moms :) great peom thanks for sharing :)

MRose911 GOLD said...
on Nov. 20 2010 at 8:28 pm
MRose911 GOLD, Paradise, Utah
17 articles 10 photos 107 comments

Favorite Quote:
"No boy is worth crying over and the one who is won't make you cry." - Sarah Kane

this reminds me of my mom!! :) thanks so much for sharing! :)

on Nov. 20 2010 at 7:42 pm
ihauntwizards SILVER, Indianapolis, Indiana
7 articles 1 photo 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We all have been the greatest, we all have been degraded." - The Maine, "We'll All Be..."

whoa.

this is beautiful!

 


ebee123 SILVER said...
on Oct. 7 2010 at 6:42 pm
ebee123 SILVER, Rochester, Minnesota
6 articles 5 photos 8 comments
This is so brilliant. The ending is unexpected and inspiring.

on Oct. 7 2010 at 10:12 am
mariel_f BRONZE, Emerson, New Jersey
2 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"so we beat on, boats against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past"

well written poem! super interesting. i love the perspective as well as the allusions to mythology. it's a great frame for a college essay or a personal essay. though i'm not sure i'm a fan of the last line.

on Aug. 24 2010 at 7:39 pm
EmilyStCroix BRONZE, Chicago, Illinois
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment
I'm not sure how I feel about the end of this piece. Why Homer? why a man? The message I got from this is that working outside of the home is a very masculine thing to do.

Eilatan GOLD said...
on Jul. 11 2010 at 11:44 am
Eilatan GOLD, Old Greenwich, Connecticut
11 articles 1 photo 307 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Nobody is normal. Everybody in the world is a weirdo freak. Except you, which makes you a weirdo freak."

speaking as a serious feminist, i really liked this poem. particularly the ending.   : )

on May. 28 2010 at 5:41 pm
starlight26 GOLD, Miramar, Florida
11 articles 7 photos 174 comments

Favorite Quote:
*life isnt about pretending to be something you&#039;re not. It about being who you are and finding someone <br /> who loves every bit of it.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Life&#039;s tradegy is that we get old too soon and wise too late&quot;

I totally agree :)

on Apr. 14 2010 at 8:01 pm
AuntRiah BRONZE, Warrior, Alabama
3 articles 5 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.&quot;-Aristotle

I love the discription in this. Very creative. (:

on Apr. 14 2010 at 4:40 pm
jamrock636 BRONZE, Woodside, New York
2 articles 2 photos 3 comments
This was great! I love the mentioning of baking soda and getting rid of stains, it reminds me so much of my grandma. It was also a great way to look at domesticity, through Greek mythology. Keep up the good work and feel free to check out my work.

on Apr. 14 2010 at 3:01 pm
Acalleq PLATINUM, Togiak, Alaska
22 articles 5 photos 146 comments

Favorite Quote:
you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have

loved this poem. my mom's the same, she's the best cook, she never gives up on my own cooking. keep it up!

on Apr. 14 2010 at 1:51 pm
SOSaiXD PLATINUM, Oviedo, Florida
35 articles 1 photo 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Always believe that everything happens for a reason. If you give God long enough to prove His point, He will always blow you away.&quot;

I love the Greek allusions! The comparison was fantastic. (: I never would've thought of it that way.

ird13 GOLD said...
on Mar. 23 2010 at 6:45 am
ird13 GOLD, Beachwood, Ohio
12 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
1. Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else&#039;s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.<br /> 2. You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it.<br /> 3. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.

WOW That was really good! I like the way I could feel the way you speak and it had the rhythm of normal conversation while professing something so poetic :]

on Mar. 1 2010 at 7:15 pm
sleeplessdreamer PLATINUM, Raleigh, North Carolina
30 articles 0 photos 332 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I have always wanted to write in such a way that people say, &#039;I have always thought that but never found the words for it.&#039;&quot; -anonymous

This was pretty good. I like it a lot, very different for a poem. Check out my work, anyone, if you ever get a chance!

on Mar. 1 2010 at 4:12 am
xAllegria BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 2 photos 112 comments

Favorite Quote:
&Ccedil;a fait tellement du bien d&rsquo;aimer les gens qu&rsquo;on aime, que &ccedil;a finit par faire mal. Je sais pas comment on survit a &ccedil;a. Non franchement, je sais pas. LOL (laughing out loud) &reg;, Lola.

That's Nigella Lawson's cookbook... excellent pancakes, oh yessss... haha well anyways Nice idea with the comparisms and stuff. Simple but effective... pretty good.

on Feb. 7 2010 at 11:34 am
FondduLac BRONZE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don\\\&#039;t, they never were.&quot; -- Khalil Gibran

I love this. Great style. Great message.

cgm093 BRONZE said...
on Jan. 16 2010 at 11:15 pm
cgm093 BRONZE, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3 articles 0 photos 5 comments
I love how you took something so ordinary and paralleled it to Homer. Great job, i really really like it :)

on Jan. 16 2010 at 2:12 pm
Ms.Understood, Laramie, Wyoming
0 articles 0 photos 82 comments
I love the way this poem is written. It has so much depth. I think mothers should always be admired in some way. Your poem agrees.

?!Zeya!? said...
on Jan. 16 2010 at 11:49 am
?!Zeya!?, West Des. Moines, Iowa
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments
Really Really kewl