Judy Grahn’s, “III. Nadine, resting on her neighbor’s stoop” comes third in her seven-poem collection, The Common Woman, and accentuates the integral role common women play as mothers and leaders. Grahn details Nadine’s value to her community beginning with the title of the poem itself. The word “resting” is used deliberately in explaining why Nadine is there. She is exhausted from taking care of others and must take a break on her neighbor’s stoop. Grahn challenge’s the false notion of poor women being lazy, similar to Judy Edelman in her article “Unions on the Line: Myth vs. Reality”.

The poem begins by celebrating how Nadine “holds things together” in her community (line 1). While Nadine does keep things together, she is not perfect. No one is. As she hosts a “Sunday social she would spike / every drink, and offer you half of what she knows, / which is plenty’ (lines 3-5). Grahn’s description of Nadine is authentic, leaving no details out. She “holds things together”, but she also drinks too much. Nadine is still generous despite this shortcoming, as she “spike[s] every drink” as well as “offering” her knowledge and experience to others. Nadine’s supportive nature is further portrayed in the poem as she is, “raising 15 children, / half of them her own” (lines 13-14). Nadine cares for everyone in the neighborhood, not just her own family. Those in the community depend on her to the point that, “The neighborhood / would burn itself out without her” (lines 14-15), but frustration still arises in her experiences as, “one of these days she’ll strike the spark herself” (line 16). With all Nadine does to take care of the neighborhood, she may be the one to let it crumble. She holds everyone together, but that does not mean she does so with ease. Perhaps she ponders what life would be like if  her neighbors did not rely on her. What would happen if she stopped holding everything together? Would she go down in flames with it? Would she move on and forget it ever existed? Grahn invites the reader to think about these questions.

Throughout the poem, Grahn uses architectural and tool metaphors to describe Nadine. This imagery enhances Nadine, and reinforces the overarching idea of her strength and her role in “holding things together.” The speaker describes Nadine maneuvering herself around the city, “like an armored tank; but she thinks / of herself as a ripsaw cutting through / knots in wood” (lines 5-8). An armored tank can be useful, but it is large and lacks nuance or subtlety. In contrast, a ripsaw is a handheld device that is powerful, yet more subtle than a tank. Nadine may have a distorted view of her effectiveness, but she ultimately supports the community as a helpful tool, holding it together. The poem goes on to compare her to a shelter, describing Nadine as, “a mud-chinked cabin in the slums” (line 11). This comparison shows how Nadine is weathered from her experience, but remains sturdy and effective at holding the community together and providing a home for many. Nadine may not be perfect, but people depend on her, and she gets her job done with the consistency of a machine, “made of grease / and metal” (lines 17-18).  The poem concludes, “The common woman is as common as / a nail” (lines 20-21). Nadine is the embodiment of the common woman and, much like a nail, holds things together under pressure (family, friends, neighborhoods). As nails do in fact “hold things together,” we return to how the poem starts. The whole neighborhood depends on Nadine to keep moving forward. While she may want to give up at times, or must drink to cope at others, she continues to serve as a vital component, a powerful mother and leader within this impoverished neighborhood.

Grahn, Judy. “III. Nadine, resting on her neighbor’s stoop.” The Work of a Common Woman: the Collected Poetry of Judy Grahn 1964-1977. Crossing Press, 1980. (65).