In my Purse

I’ve recently read a couple stories that gave me some inspiration for today’s blog post.

The Things They Carried, a novel by Tim O’Brien, catalogs things that a group of soldiers carried in the Vietnam war. Along with the many physical things listed, the narrator also lists many ambiguous and symbolic items.

“Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45-caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded. He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.”

Another story I read recently is A Piece of Chalk by G.K. Chesterton. It has a brief part that describes the narrator’s desire to write a book based on the things he carries in his pocket.

“I put the brown paper in my pocket along with the chalks, and possibly other things. I suppose every one must have reflected how primeval and how poetical are the things that one carries in one's pocket; the pocket-knife, for instance, the type of all human tools, the infant of the sword. Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about things in my pockets. But I found it would be too long; and the age of the great epics is past.”

Between these two stories, I decided to take an inventory of things I carry in my purse. The things a girl carries in her purse are very personal and can say a lot. They are the things that, that woman feels are important enough to have with her everyday. What kind of ‘poetical’ things will it say about me? So, here is a picture of the things I carry in my purse followed by a poem.

L to R, top to bottom: wallet, temple recommend, old movie tickets, hotel key from my honeymoon, water bottle, Tylenol, keys, planner, protein bar, pen, sunglasses, cosmetics bag, hand sanitizer, Tums (in Altoids tin), Chapstick, hand lotion.

My Purse.

My Life.

My World.

A planner and pen

to organize

to write

to plan

to create

A bottle to hydrate

A protein bar to nourish

A pain killer to relieve

A sunglass to protect

A lotion to moisturize

A Burt’s Bees to soothe

An Altoids hiding my Tums to alleviate

The pangs in my pregnant body

A Wallet to spend

A Wallet to remember

A Wallet to buy

A Wallet to reminisce

To spend, to buy, to see the temple

To remember, to reminisce dates with my love

My keys. Unlock and lock my world.

My World:

My Day

My Health

My Life:

My Livelihood

My Husband

My Purse.