Thursday, April 30, 2015

Hansel, Gretel, and Me

As I go
I leave behind me
Words
Like bread crumbs
Hoping
If I find myself in an oven and
Have to retreat
I'll have a lot of trouble
Finding my way back

Look Away

A smile
Can be hard to take in and
Easy to take
Which is why
When my son smiles at me
I sometimes have to look away 
It's why
On any sunny day
My mind 
Is always on sunscreen

Continuous Confusion

Commercials cost money
Like most everything in commercials
Like most furniture
Which you need a lot of
When you buy a house
With twice as many rooms as your last home
I wonder
How my half empty house
Feels about it

Monday, April 27, 2015

Summer Stretching

In the summer
Life really takes place
In between
Lawn owing
Episodes
Inch long grass
Signalling
The promise and threat of a new start and
The attractiveness and persistence of
Procrastination

I bought a rotary phone

I bought a rotary phone
From an antique store
Because AT&T makes it cheaper to have a land line
Than to not have one and
Why not
Go to an antique store to purchase
Something
That was a fixture of the house
I grew up in
Only ours were brighter colored and
Wall mounted and
Relied upon
For
Phone calls
Which is why
I bought a rotary phone


Saturday, April 25, 2015

Forty One

At forty one
I finally can see a Phillip Levine poem
Sales routes, cosmoline, and all
Playing out on the pages of the book
Like a great old war movie or
A drive across a dusty road out west somewhere
In a 1971 Lincoln Continental
One old motel after the other
Calling out and
Fading away
It may be the plastic daisy shaped magnifying glass or
It may be
That I am finally able to forgive Detroits
It's 1970s excesses and excuses
At forty one

Friday, April 24, 2015

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

April 22... Snow

snow after tax day
is not the sort of refund
folks were hoping for

Parenting

Parenting is about imagination
It is usually
Equivalent
To trying to convince someone it is spring
Despite snow showers
Not by sitting down with a calendar
But by setting up a sprinkler
Donning a swimsuit and
Sunscreen and
Running about the yard
Screaming really loudly

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

balloons don't break bowls, boys do

He is in his third day of a balloon obsession
Bouncing
All over the house and
I have no doubt that he could keep it going and
Going
All week long and
Beyond
If the balloon could
But by Friday it will probably be the size of a bb pellet and
I will be able to breathe freely again
Even though I am sure popular wisdom is right that
Balloons don't break bowls, vases, and picture frames
Boys do


Monday, April 20, 2015

unfinished

sunny and eighty
then windy, wet, and fifty
One step forward and ...

Slipping In

I slip into the bed
Every night
After midnight
Like a soldier
Into the bunker
After a little moonlighting
Doing reconnaissance
Hand reaching out for you and
Eyes always on the horizon
Taking it for granted
That if there are vermin in there with us
I already know them well and
That they will not wake me
Affect tommorow's battle or
Keep me from slipping off my socks before
I slip into bed

I won't be going into appliance repair, but ...

Our refrigerator doesn't keep our food cold enough any more or
At least not for now
Not until the repair guys arrive and
I suppose it could be said that 
While our country isn't functioning properly in a lot of ways
That too is only temporary
For there are lots of folks offering their assistance and
We the People are not among them
Of course
Under no condition should I ever attempt to mess with freon for
Whatever the use
Unlike the country
It works a lot better without my meddling

Friday, April 17, 2015

the future of hydration and snacking hops into mind each unsesonaly warm day


desalination
good for water and popcorn
so smile in summer



A Flop is a Flop

She used to flop on to the floor
When both creativity and structure failed her
Now
She plays piano
When  she can think of nothing else to do
Which I guess is better but
Certainly louder
Though
She could have flopperd into the trumpet or
A gig
As an almost 9 year old
DJ
Urging other folks
To flop all over the floor

Urban Perspective

Chicago is
One of the most favorable ball parks
For lefties to go to left center and
Righties to go to right center
For home runs
And
A great place
For vegetarians and
Meatatarians
To go to a pizza place
For deep dish pizza

Thursday, April 16, 2015

beneath every blessing there is a curse

my arm is itchy,
red, and looking infected
in the warm Suns glare

Stealthy Attack

Tortilla chip bag
On the table 
In the middle of the four of us
Like a bee carcas
Sans stinger
Sleeping the good sleep
Aware of the virgin queen bees
Awaiting in heaven

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Republican E-mails and Punishments

Republicans 
E-mailed me
Asking me to step up and defend our nation
From Hillary Clinton and
Her left wing Democratic allies and
I thought of my daughter
Who wants me to step up and defend
Her righ to be the first female President of the United States of America and
Sure in the knowledge that
Even if she were to favor gay rights and peace with Iramn
She would still not be an enemy of America
I chose
To accept as silliness from fellow Americans
Without the need for lectures or the revoking of candy priviliges 
Everything coming out of the mouths of those 
Republicans who
E-mailed me

Observations in Yellow

A yellow plastic fish
Hollowed out to accomodate a toddler
Wishing to roack back and forth
Is staring at me from acrods the room
As the sounds of my son's piano lesson
Drift over from next door
It refuses to rock
Or even sway
To the music and it won't stop staring
Or Smiling
Or being yellow

Acrostic Fun From Spring Break 5

Smell it
Popping up all around us
Roses
Inside
Never
Go there

Suns up behind the clouds and it's
Hotter now
Outside
Windows down anyway
Everywhere
Run while you can, even if you need an umbrella
Snow days always return

Acrostic Fun From Spring Break 4

Flush It

To you it's
Obvious but
I never know until the
Last
Elephant in the room
Toots

By Seren and Wyeth

Acrostic Fun From Spring Break 3

Off Limits

Don't
Use
Me
Boofus

By Seren and Wyeth

Acrostic Fun From Spring Break 2

CHICKEN

Corn spread around
Horses too
Incubators
Cows too
Kitchen calls for
Eggs
No news here

By Seren and Wyeth

Acrostic Fun From Spring Break 1

People
Obviously in pain
Only need to 
Poop

By: Seren and Wyeth

Monday, April 13, 2015

patterns


rain falling again
just as it does every spring
every year ... now

Rain Like Ukraine

Rain drops like money
From an oligarch's pockets
Steady drips and bursts

Thursday, April 02, 2015

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Accepting The Magic

You are still a believer
If look at a lawn
Magically transformed into
Pink
And
Purple
Plastic and
Wonder
How in the world
You are ever going to cut it

Easter

The true meaning of Easter
Might
Now
Come inside a plastic egg
Surprise

cautious optimism

long sleeves optional
windows rolled all the way down
clear blue sky ... today