Martha Washington Tells Everyone She Is Just Waiting to Die
Rita Mae Reese
Ink, acetone transfer, thread, nails, and vellum on wood
$200 (artist will donate proceeds to ALL)
Martha Washington Tells Everyone She Is Waiting to Die
Five times, then six,
sunk into an endless grief.
The first two, infants
who did not wait for death,
then her first husband.
Then—oh God—Patsy,
like the key on Franklin’s kite,
the lightning coming faster and faster
(George noting the strikes
in the margins of his almanac,
looking for patterns
like a good farmer)—
the girl’s life a series of suddenlys
with little room for much else,
then suddenly and always 17
and George weeping by her bed.
And Jack, a thorn in her heart,
dead of camp fever at Yorktown.
Grief, the ocean she swam in,
and George her sturdy boat.
Then the boat went down.
How long could she swim?
How long did she want to?
Artist Statement
I admit that I have never had much interest in Martha Washington, or any warm feelings, though I have been writing a series of poems about George Washington, specifically about his teeth. She seemed dour and lifeless, even for a First Lady. When I discovered that she insisted on attempting to track down an enslaved person named Oney (or Ona) Judge, whom she had intended to “gift” as a wedding present to a cruel niece, my indifference hardened to disgust. I learned that while George Washington struggled with the institution of slavery, Martha had no discernible qualms about it. George made provisions in his will for the people he enslaved that did not fall under dower law (“possessions” that are to be held for the lifetime of the designee but which they have to legal rights to) be emancipated upon the death of his wife. He died in December 1799, and Martha reportedly feared that the enslaved people would try to kill her in order to gain their freedom. She formally manumitted the 123 enslaved people held in common with George (but bequeathed the one enslaved person she had legal rights to to her grandson) on January 1, 1801. The names of the enslaved persons are copied on the board, mimicking the census in George Washington’s handwriting that he undertook in preparation for his will. The poem on the board, titled “Martha Washington Tells Everyone She Is Just Waiting to Die,” is about the series of deaths that marked her life, including the loss of all of her children. It was created by acetone transfer from laser jet printing and covered with a sheet of vellum, to indicate both the contemporary, subjective view and the obscurity that involves. The small mirror to the side contains a passage from Paul’s letter to Philemon; in this letter Paul urges Philemon to welcome his escaped slave Onesimus as a dear brother and a Christian. The green thread was knitted by my wife, as a nod to the sewing and fabric work of Oney Judge and others enslaved by the Washingtons, and the tangle of lives and histories. Because enslaved people under dower law remained enslaved after the emancipation, families and relationships were destroyed on what should have been a joyous occasion.
About the Artist
Rita Mae Reese has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, a Stegner fellowship, and a “Discovery”/The Nation award. She is the author of The Alphabet Conspiracy and The Book of Hulga and her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Her work is frequently collaborative and combines art, music and film with poetry. These projects include video poetry, Lesbian Poet Trading Cards, illustrated poems for The Book of Hulga, and poems for the bluegrass album Matriarch Songs & Verse with the band Coulee Creek. Her interest in Martha Washington began with a series of poems about George Washington's teeth. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her family.