&%@$ is funny

A two year old saying “fuck” is kind of funny
In the kitchen
As you are trying to herd everyone to the dinner table
But if
Or when
It gets legs and
Appears outside the house …
It’ll still be funny
Embarrasing
But funny
When the grandparents hear it
Truly funny
If he’s still yelling it
Over and over again
In public
When he’s fifteen
It won’t be too funny
But the diaper
And the finger sucking
And the food throwing
And the plaintiff call of “poop”
Wouldn’t be funny
Or cute
Either
So I’m choosing to laugh now
While it’s all still
Very
Very
Funny

Balance -or- prolonged and unsatisfied sexual excitement

For every time he scatters macaroni
Across the front of his shirt
In his hair
In his mother’s hair
On the floor
And on the cat
There is a day full of him
Asking for his blue sippy cup full of milk
Blue
His favorite color
And the only color he can consistently say
And milk
Which the two year old
Who can’t say “I want“
Or “cup”
Calls “nut”

Dinner

Three or four kernels of canned corn
A nibble of tofu waffle
No olives
But I’m willing to pretend he ate one
A few good swigs of “nut”
Known to the rest of us as milk
If he’s lucky and
Loud enough
There will be a cracker later
After Pajamas
Before stories
I wonder if we can shift one of the four or five bowls of cereal
From tomorrows breakfast over
To tonight
To make it seem
More like he ate
Dinner

Yes and No

I always say yes
He always says no
I don’t know why but
It is something reliable
If the game is on
I can say yes or
Maybe or
Possibly or
Sometimes or
Pizza and
He says no
Everytime
Except for today
At lunch
When
For the first time
He said yes and
I said no

Mine

Mine
Hers
Yours
His
Where is the one we gave him
That’s hers
You wanted to play with his at our house
He can’t play with that
It’s mine
That’s hers
I know it’s yours but he has it now
He won’t play with it long
Mine
Well it was really mine when I was a kid …
But …
I’m sharing it now

Interruption

I’m working
She comes in for the after nap hug and
Leaves me
I’m still working
She brings in two crackers
Each lying under a slice of cheese and
Asks me if I want them
I say yes thank you
She says your welcome and
Smiles and
Leaves
I’m still working
She shouts in
Asks me if I want hot chocolate
I say yes and
Get a taste of hers
Another exchange of politeness
Another big smile and
Again she leaves
I continue working
Then I hear a little back and forth about
Something being hot and
About using two hands and
Then she appears in the doorway
Moving slowly
A mug of hot chocolate in between her hands
The biggest smile yet
Just waiting to come out
Waiting for me to take the mug and
Look in its direction
I do my part and
Am rewarded
Although she leaves again and
Again I am working and
Counting the minutes until
She returns

Connected

I’m working on the computer
Grading papers
Kids upstairs
Wife upstairs
Both monitors are on
So no matter what room they are in
I can hear them
If they laugh
I can smile
If they scream at one another
I can cringe
If my daughter tells her mother
That she is not ready to
Leave the beach and
Get out of her swimsuit
Until daddy sees it
I can save my grading spreadsheet and
Run upstairs to the beach
I suppose it’s a little like the executive
On vacation
Who can’t let go of his blackberry
Except I escape to the office
About twenty feet away and
The executive probably doesn’t
Love the boss
Or change his diaper or
Run upstairs for a chance to
Visit him on the beach

Innocents

Dog enters the room
She runs
She screams
She climbs on the couch
She hops up and down
She squeals
She screams
She recoils
Knees bent
Head down
Elbows up
I move quickly to comfort her
To protect her
To have her cling to me
Arms around my throat
Knees in my gut
My first thought
However
Is ...
For the poor dog

Martin Luther King Jr. and Preschool Teachers

My four year old asked me why Dr. Luther King
Wasn’t around anymore and
What it meant to be shot because
Her pre-school teacher said that he was shot
By people who didn’t agree with him
I responded by playing
The I have a Dream Speech for her
I don’t know what she thought about it
I couldn’t hear her or the speech
Over her two year old brother’s screams of
Yes
Yes
Yes
He was feeling it for sure
Huge smile on his face
Blue eyes gleaming
Rocking back and forth and
Side to side
He might have even raised his hands up to the sky and
Shouted amen
I’d have settled for “yes reverend” or
“Speak the truth brother.”
Hell
I settled for “yes” because
It seems to have saved me
From having to explain
That disagreement isn’t usually fatal
I’m glad Columbus Day is behind us
There isn’t a good speech I can play for that

Poop and Pee

Poop
Pee
Gas
Shit
(yes, shit … embarrassing, but it could be worse)
Booger
Butt
Bottom
Vagina
Penis
Puke (or pook)
It’s all natural and
It’s all a part of
The vocabulary of a four year old and
The aspirations of a two year old and
The life of a tirty seven year old

Words

Words
We say lots of them
But only a few
Last longer than a minute or two and
Even fewer
Make it through a season and
We have no control over which ones last or
Where they stay
We don’t even have total control over which ones we use
Which ones we send out into the world
We just place them as carefully as we can or
Throw as many of them out there as we can
Then
We listen to
What others have to say
To their words

Snow Fall Flashbacks

Snow falling outside
In my head too
In my head it is falling in Michigan
I can see it in the streetlight
The road beginning to look like a country lane
Vague outlines of trees and Golf Course in the background
Visions of the frozen and
Snow covered creek
Dancing in between
A train passing in the distance
Adding a mournful note
To a quiet and
Serene
Tableau
The house is dark behind me
Just as it is here
It continues to snow
Just as it does now
Snow is really falling outside
Here and now
I just can’t see it

Fever plus Motrin

Fever plus Motrin
Is like a snow day in the world of the internet and
I-phones and
Other such nonsense
Fever plus Motrin
Means
That she slowed down and
Was whiney and
Grumpy
Every six hours but in between
She was raring to go and
So was her brother
Often cross purposes yet
In the same direction
Fever plus motrin is no different from
Fever by itself
In one important respect or
Should I say
To one important group of people
Preschool administrators
Fever plus motrin
Gives me a headache

Working Late

It’s almost midnight
Still too cold here for short sleeves;
Too late to be up

Sick Day

Propped up in bed with
Crackers and flat ginger ale;
Outside it’s snowing

Deja Vu

I almost feel like I’m back in college
The house is often a mess and
Always loud
The daily schedule certainly isn’t 9 to 5 and
Frequently I can be caught
Engaged in activities
That are something
Less than
Mature
The microwave gets almost as much as the stove
There is a guy here
Who charges into walls
Chugs his drinks and
Communicates mainly with grunts and
Monosyllabic exclamations
Delivered in slurred speech and
Has been known to run around naked with an older woman
While it is true that the alchohol doesn’t exactly
Flow like water around here
I have been puking more often than
I thought adults were supposed to puke
If I opened a book with more than one hundred words or
Felt a sense of mystery that didn’t involve
Feeling someone’s forehead or
Smelling their rear
I would be having that dream
Where I am late for a final exam
That I haven’t studied for at all
In a class
That I have barely attended
Wearing my underwear and
Almost nothing else

Of Danger and Disease

You can lock your doors
Even the garage door
You can lock your windows
Even the two in the kitchen
That open over the counter and
Are just big enough for a four year old to crawl through
If you happen to lock the keys in the house
As long as your four year old is especially skinny and
Tall enough to get down to the floor safely
You could get an alarm system
Put bars on the windows and
Switch out your basement windows for glass blocks
It keeps the spiders out of your basement
Which is great if you have a basement
You could join the local neighborhood watch or
Form one if necessary
You could attend community meetings and
Do ride along with cops if
You bug them enough
You name the one thing that would make your house feel secure
Because I know you can
But hardship and expense aren’t always going to be good enough
Deep down inside
Every parent knows that

Every Other Night

Every other night
I put her to bed
Every other night she says
Good night sleep tight good night
After I ask her how many kisses she wants me to blow and
She says seven
After I blow seven kisses and
Ask for one of my own
After she blows one kiss and
Maybe even two or three
After I tell he I love her and
She tells me the same thing
Every other night I put him to bed
He says bye and
Blows kisses and
Then says bye again
At least three or four times
Maybe with another kiss blown in between and
Once the door is closed
Sings for at least half an hour
Every night
I come downstairs slowly
My eyes take a while to adjust to the light
Which is fine
Why should I rush
To work
Why should I move on
Too quickly
Every night

Huck Finn has a Tantrum

I wouldn’t take the tantrum out of childhood
The way they have taken the N-word out of Huck Finn
What is childhood without the tantrum?
I suppose it is like a journey through the South
On the Mississippi river
In the mid-nineteenth century
With an African American
Maybe it is NWA without bitch and fuck
Clockwork Orange without the ultraviolence
Heathcliffe and Catherine living happily ever after or
A flight to Australia without jet lag
Or
Maybe it isn’t really childhood
Maybe
If you don’t like tantrums
You shouldn’t have children

January 3, 2011

Starlings, Grackles, and Red Winged Blackbirds are falling from the sky
Drum fish are washing up on the banks of the Arkansas River
Pete Postlethwaite died
Of cancer
Anne Francis died
Of cancer
Macaulay Culkin and Mila Kunis have split up
Although it had nothing to do with cancer
She said "he's an amazing guy,
Who is probably the most brilliant person I've ever met"
Now her publicist says it’s definitely over
Although "The split was amicable, and
They remain close friends"

The New Year

The new year beckons
Like a full moon hanging over a snow covered field
Calling to me
Asking me to leave
The comfort of last year
Where I still am lingering
Warm and content
More or less
Sitting in a Queen Anne wingback chair
In front of the fire
Nothing left to do
Nothing left to chance
Offering only the beauty and promise
Of an unspoiled expanse of snow and
Whatever treasures I can discover for myself
In its reflected glow

First Day

First day
New year is
Already after and
Caught in the wake
That’s what it means to be
Linked
Interconnected
Caught in continuity or
Discontinuity
That’s what it means to be lived through
To be just another day
Just another segue
From old into the
Next segue
This day
This year
Every day
Every year

Rap

I discovered last night
That I still like rap music
I still have to move when I listen to it
The beat still moves right through me
I still wonder at the fantasy world of boobs and booze
Benjamins and Bentleys and
I still connect with the
Darker Dreams too and
I still love screaming fuck and slut and bitch
Even though I’d never say more than fuck in real life and
Even that under my breath and
My own screaming isn’t what it once was
Especially at night
With a monitor spitting static and heavy breathing behind me on the bookshelf but
I still think Dr. Dre is as important as Beethoven or Jesus
To me
Right up there with Kermit and Cynthia Rylant
Whom I spend more time with these days but
Given an hour to myself
I find that I still like rap music

The End

An end will come
Certainly and
Yet I doubt
I want to doubt
I have to doubt
I doubt everything
Undoubtedly
Myself
The permanence of my footprint
Fingerprint
Words
Lessons
Work
Cracks in the ceiling
Water damage on the office wall
My daughter’s future
The future
Doubt is the root of all evil
All good
All questions
All answers
All beginnings
All ends
All does end
Even if I won’t ever know for sure

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning

Lots of moments walk in its shoes

Closing your eyes on the day
That saw you hold her hand for the first time

Opening your eyes on the morning of the day
A bill goes into law
A bill that changes the world just a little
For the better

Eating breakfast before driving to the airport
To welcome someone home from
Captivity
War or
A reluctantly accepted but much needed break

Watching the clock run out on a game and
A championship season for the team
That you’ve watched for as long as you can
Remember knowing what sports is

Turning into the parking lot
Driving a red 1965 Pontiac Bonneville
Filled with friends
Headed to a building filled with friends and family about
To watch you and
Support you
Promise to spend the rest of life with your best friend

Lots of moments
Put butterflies in your stomach
Goosebumps on your arms and
Make you willing to give up a few years at the end
For the ability to pause and squeeze everything you can out of it
Right then
Right now

But only one moment
Lets you watch your two year old son and
Your four year old daughter
In front of a fully lit Christmas tree
Still radiant
As the first light of the sun
Struggles through the darkness
Wearing pajamas
With antlers on the footies and
Snowflakes on the lapels
Surrounded by packages
Leaping and shrieking because
Before filling the stockings
Eating the cookies
Drinking the milk and
Sharing the carrots
Santa strung their own little Christmas tree
With garland

Christmas morning
Doesn’t need shoes

The Warmth of a New Fireplace

In a new house
There is the chance that
You might feel really warm

In a new house with a fireplace
The fire is fed with cold air
Ushered in from outside through an intake pipe

No longer is warm air sucked out into winter
Along with the delicious aroma of burning wood
That so often tickles my nose
Now that winter has arrived

I inhale it nearly
Every time I bounce out to take a dirty diaper to the trash
Returning the control of the aroma-ways in our house
To the vanilla and cinnamon scented candles
Every time I collect the mail
Hoping for a Christmas card to bring another friend
Back into my life
If even for a moment
Every time I retrieve some forgotten item from the car
Hoping to bring a smile to the faces of
One or the other of my children
If only for a moment
Every time turn on the holiday lights
In anticipation of my wife’s much awaited arrival home and
In anticipation of the smiles and shrieks of joy
When they go on

We live in the first complete planned community
Housing for veterans and/or steelworkers alike
Often in search of their first home
Back in the 1950s
Not exactly chocked full of modern technology or
Originally equipped with fireplaces but
Over the years
Families have come and gone and
Come again and
The houses have changed too
People have added garages and dormers and
Along the way even a few fireplaces
Maybe even recently
In the midst of a war or two and
A recession and double digit unemployment

So I can’t know for sure if
Hot or cold air is going in or if
It matters at all for what goes out
Since there is a fire at the root of all of this but
That means I can’t explain why
Once I make sure the house isn’t on fire or
Our furnace hasn’t developed a problem we can’t afford to fix
I feel warm inside

It might be that I’d be happier in a newer subdivision
Even without mature trees
As long as my newer house has a fireplace
Fed with cold air ushered in from outside through an intake pipe

I might always feel warm inside

Surfing on The Weather Channel in Winter

You used to need a ruler and a piece of level ground
To measure the snow fall
You use to have to leave the house but
Now
If you have a laptop and an internet connection
You don’t even have to get up off of the couch
That’s progress you can’t measure with a ruler
Regardless of how level the ground is

A Cold Green Christmas

No snow on the ground;
Does reindeer food sparkle on
Dormant weed strewn grass?

A drive to look at holiday lights

“Look, Inflatables”;
Christmas music playing on
The car radio

A four year old's baby Jesus

Jesus has a last name
Christ
Thankfully he doesn’t have a middle name
Starting with H or F
He did have a mommy and a daddy but
He wasn’t born in a hospital
He was born in a barn with animals and
A very bright star and
A lot of visitors who gave him gifts for his birthday
He got gifts on his birthday too but
No toys
He got gold
Which isn’t a favorite color
Like blue
Purple
Yellow or
Black
He got incense
Which is probably something he put in his piggy bank
Later on when he became a big girl and
He got Frankenstein
I can’t imagine what Jesus did with Frankenstein
Maybe I’ll find out from a five year old some day soon

A four year old's reflection on Santa Claus

Santa is St. Nick
Santa Claus
Father Christmas
Kris Kringle
Santa flies
Has reindeer and a sleigh and
Goes down chimneys or
Doors and windows
If there is no chimney
With a sack and
Gives presents to good children
Sometimes he plays with the toys
He always eats the cookies and milk and
The reindeers’ carrots
They breast feed from him later
He’s like their mother
He’s like a mother for everyone
He gives a lot to everyone
I like Santa Claus
My brother does too
Now let’s not write poems the whole day

Written by Seren and Daddy

Snow

Snow falling
In a snow globe
From the ceiling of a fancy holiday video display
In the lobby of a fancy big city skyscraper
From the mantle of a fireplace
In an old small town library
Out of a plastic bag at Grandma and Granddad’s house
The day after Thanksgiving dinner
As we set up the tree
Christmas is almost here and
Snow has been falling everywhere
Except outside

Yeonpyeong Island

Tonight
On Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea
People were preparing for the possibility of war and
Now they are sleeping fitfully
Morning almost upon them

Tonight our kids wore their footie pajamas
With their winter coats and
Tennis shoes
To have cookies and
Sing Christmas carols
In the old Langhorne Library and
Now my son is not sleeping fitfully
Having gone to bed too late and
Maybe too constipated and
Certainly too close in proximity to a major tantrum but
Morning is not almost upon us
So there is more time to hope that an unpleasant morning and
A long and dangerous day
Can be avoided

Santa

Santa’s are like roaches
Or bed bugs
This time of year
I expect to see one in the kitchen cabinet in the morning
When I pull out a cereal box and
Even if you don’t see one
The threat is continually there
Lurking
Though
Maybe Santa’s are more like cocaine than cockroaches
Because you do have to go looking for them or
At least go to certain kinds of places
It’s not that there are elves on dimly lit street corners
In the seedier parts of town
With Santa’s hidden underneath dark green coats but
If you frequent tree lightings
Carol sings and
Department stores
You can’t avoid them and
They are addictive and
Expensive
It’s a bill that keeps coming due and
An addiction that can impact a whole family
Even if you don’t use
It impacts you
Our whole society is overwhelmed
For a period of time that
Seems to grow longer and longer every year
Productivity slumps
People spend money they don’t have and
Are overtaken by irrational glee and
If you have children …
The Santas practically hunt you down
You aren’t even safe in your own house
In our neighborhood one roars around on
A firetruck
All night long
One night a year
Christmas Eve
The night of the ultimate home invasion
The night that my pusher finally comes through
The denouement of my favorite infestation

Christmas Bliss at Four Years Old

Her own hot chocolate;
Santa in a firetruck
With lights and sirens on

Unintended Consequences

Invade Iraq
Make Iran stronger
Set up a coworker to fail
Watch them succeed
Buy your daughter twenty matchbox cars
For every dolly
Thrust a sword or a hammer into every costume
Keep everything with a princess on it out of sight for as long as possible and
Be forced to emphasize gender neutrality across the board
When a son arrives
First he wants a dolly
Then he is hugs and kisses his busses and monster trucks
Before you know it
You have two princesses
The smallest one in pumps
It’s that old tale of
Unintended consequences
Hitting close to home and
Wearing sequins and ruffles

Christmas

This year
Christmas has arrived
Wearing a blue bathrobe
Emblazoned with a sock monkey riding a star and
A Santa Hat
That says
Simply Merry Christmas

His Laugh

Instant warmth
On the coldest of days
Like a sip of hot chocolate
The biggest sip possible of
The hottest chocolate you could stomach
Or that first moment in front of a roaring fire
Right after coming inside
From a snowball fight or
Snow angels
Or when you first slide underneath the flannel sheets
Or when the heater delivers that first blast of hot air or
When you pass out of winter and through the big glass doors
Into the mall
It’s just like that
Instant warmth

He'll need a jump shot

When you talk about some things
As a parent
You lower your voice
You might even whisper
Because a good parent wouldn’t say it
Wouldn’t be thinking about it
A good dad certainly wouldn’t be worried that
According to some old wives tale about predicting height
His son will be lucky to be tall enough to be a high school point guard
Particularly given the genetic pool from which he has swum out of
He’s really going to need to work on his jumper and
Develop a crossover dribble to have any chance at Varsity and
Although he has shown great facility at catch
It’s a long way from a bow legged catch
To Isaiah Thomas
So
While I have already started to work with him on his jumper
I’m also whispering

Parenthood

Go in your kid’s room
Admire the mess, and leave it just as it is
Adding a big truck or two and
Some instruments with sharp edges
If they aren’t already out
Put on some music
Preferably something that asks you to jump or skip
Then find something to use as a blindfold
Preferably something dark and
Covered with dinosaurs
Fire trucks or
Fairies
Then proceed to obey the music and
Jump and skip all around the room and
Enjoy
You’ll find it hard not to smile
Even through the fear and pain

Cookie Wars

Baking cookies with toddlers is
As close as I’ll ever come to battle
I suppose human casualties are highly unlikely
Although not beyond the sleep deprived imaginings of a parent
Not when a two year old is in close proximity to a
Heavy wood rolling pin and
A knife block full of knives
Standing on a plastic step stool
Right next to his sister
The queen of the voluntary seizure
Besides
Even if no one really comes close to death
Insanity is a real possibility
As is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Everything happens very quickly
One minute you are measuring flour and
The next you are presented with melted butter and
Expected to pretend that it can be creamed with sugar
In that form
One minute you are happily rolling out dough
And the next thing you know
Red sprinkles are being spilled on the floor and
A fight is underway over who gets to put the
Elephant cookie on the cookie sheet
In the end
Of course
While war may be a little like an elephant shaped cookie for Christmas
Baking cookies isn’t remotely like battle
However
Deciding who gets to open the next window on the advent calendar …

Seeing the Light

I wish that my path in life
Was lined by illuminated milk jugs;
Sprinkled with musical performances by
Choirs from local schools;
Warmed by apple cider
Straight off of the fire; and
Lightened and enlightened
By people in period costume
It would be even better if it didn’t cost
Twenty five dollars for a family of four;
Wasn’t sure to be below freezing; and
Had some free snacks to pair with the warm cider
I suppose I want Christmas without the waiting and
Behavioral modification;
And the birth of Jesus
Without the manger or the cross
Maybe I just like illuminated milk jugs

Getting Ready for Mom

Every evening
She waits by the front door
While I go out the back door and
Plug in the yellow extension cord
When I come in
She is always waiting
With a huge smile on her face
I ask her if the lights are on and
She nods and smiles even bigger
Then she reminds me that we have to turn on the tree and
The extra lights strung over the top of the sliding doors and
The little ceramic houses and
The fake candles in each of the front facing windows
She follows along for each step of the process
Smiling and laughing throughout

it turns out that evening greetings aren't seasonal

running to mom’s car;
too dark to see her outside
not even her breath

Hatching Baby Jesus

My daughter hatched Jesus today
My son was the father
Which may be why Jesus was born
Wearing a traditional Icelandic costume and
Sporting blond hair put up into braids
It may also explain the whole son of God thing
I’m not sure it explains why Jesus was in her belly
If he was also hatched or
Why she went to Bethlehem riding on Clifford
The big red dog or
Why the sheep were blue and pink or
Why Dora the Explorer
AKA Paragon
Who is the father of my daughter’s other children
Was the shepherd but
My daughter is never without an explanation
So I know she has one
For why Joseph was pushing
A blue balloon in a
Big yellow dump truck
Maybe he was working an extra job
In anticipation of the hatching
Maybe he was a dead beat dad
Maybe he was frightened when she pulled
The feet out of her shirt first
Maybe that is what this is all about
Maybe breach births were taboo or
An indication of witchcraft or
An evil mark and
So Mary had to claim that Jesus hatched
In order to avoid a stoning or
Having to abandon the baby
Maybe the egg came first
Maybe my daughter is free of all blame
For having hatched Jesus today

married with children

Sometimes you still feel soft
Light
Comfortable against me
Not as often as five or six years ago
To be sure
Who has time to be soft
Light or
Comfortable anymore
We don’t
We don’t seem to know how to make it either
Yet those soft and comfortable moments
Still happen and
I still love them
I love being reminded that it is possible to add and
Yet subtract
To feel lighter when you lean against me and
I lean against you
I lean on you all the time and
You lean on me but
I don’t often feel lighter
I feel more like part of a suspension bridge or
The steel skeleton of a skyscraper
Than a pile of pillows or
A pit full of bright colored plastic balls and
Yet I still find myself
Occasionally
Piled in with you
With no particular river to cross or
Weight to support
I need to find myself there more often
I need to find my way there more often
Because
You still feel soft, light, and comfortable to me

A Long Cold Christmas

The air is cold now and
It will probably stay that way for a while and
I don’t mind
Not yet at least
The decorations are up and
As of today
So are the lights and
Though it took an hour to get them up and
A few minutes
To get the feeling back in my fingers
It didn’t bother me
The tree went up and
We all decorated it together
With Christmas carols playing in the background
The decorations may not be enough to hide the fact that
It is a homely and crooked little tree but
I don’t care
Twenty candy canes bunched together on
Three branches and
Normally that would have bothered me so much
That I would have dispersed them immediately but
I waited a whole two hours
Until the kids were asleep
To spread them all over the tree
Under the watchful eye of the Elf on the Shelf
Who was staring at me from the curtain rod
Where he will wait all night to be discovered
The kind of waiting that always drives me nuts
Except now I’m unfazed by the prospect of waiting
For Christmas to come
Underneath our Christmas Tree
I’m actually hoping to have a lot of time
To watch the cold materialize
In the glow of the Christmas Lights
It is cold now
If I’m lucky
It will be cold for some time

happy second birthday Wyeth

Two

Dirty blonde hair
Blue eyes
A toothy little grin
That is often paired with scrunched up
Glittering
Laughing eyes
The best belly snort/chortle/giggle combination
A bouncing
Rolling and
Lyrical gait
A fascination with trash trucks
Buses of every shape and size
Trains and
Babies
An interest in eating nuggets
Crackers
Blueberries
Pasta and
Little else other than the occasional pancake
A love of humming tunes and
Saying no and
Bye and
Trash
Bus
Car
More

Two

My Daughter looks like Glen Rice

Glen Rice from the corner for three
Wait
That’s Glen Rice from in front of the blue chair
From Pottery Barn Kids
Wait
That’s not for three
It’s from three feet and
It’s not a regulation basketball hoop
Unless Lilliputians are making the regulations and
It’s not Glen Rice
Unless he is less than four feet tall
With long curly brown hair and
Green eyes and white skin
Unless he’s my daughter
It’s not Glen Rice
From three feet
Shooting at a Little Tikes basketball hoop
That her brother just got for his birthday but
She caught the pass cleanly and
Made the shot
Made it the first time
So although she used both hands and
Had about as much arc as a table top
I’m her dad and
I’m a dreamer and
I’ve been dreaming about this moment since
Before I met her mother
So to me
She’s Glen Rice
Wearing maize and blue
Draining a three from the corner

Seren's Winter

It snows and
I play in the snow
Jumping and
Making shapes with my brother
Riding our sled down the hill on the side of the house and
Waiting for Santa to bring presents in his sled
He has a big sled and reindeer
Rudolph, Dasher, and Dancer and
I leave them carrots and
Milk and cookies to share with Santa
When he comes through the door or window
Since we don’t have a chimney but
We all have stockings
My brother, and me, and mom, and dad and
We’ll have a tree but
It’s not up yet
I’ll help pick it out
This weekend
It will be sunny
No snow but
It already did snow in Levittown and
Michigan and
It will snow again and
If it snows a lot
There will be a lot of ice and
Our house might shrink
Like a bears cave does after he eats a lot getting ready for winter and
I might not have enough mittens and
School might be closed and then
I would play at daddy school and
Brother school and
We would make a snowman and
We would play in the snow

Written by Seren and Daddy

No Turkey for Thanksgiving

Not Turkey but
Chicken and
Potatoes
Several varieties of potatoes
Some covered with marshmallows
Marshmallows being sugar and gelatin and
Cranberries
Food processed together with oranges and
Sugar and
Fruit salad
Sugar optional and
Pie
Sugar far from optional
And dressing
Stuffed into and
Then pulled out of
A chicken
Rather than a turkey
No turkey
No ham but
Squash
With golden raisins and
Sugar and
That pie
Comes with ice cream or
Cool whip or
Both
Your choice of sugar and
Beverages
Wine or diet coke or water or coffee
You won’t go dry
We don’t like dry
Which is why we had a chicken
Instead of a turkey

Christmas is Coming

Christmas Lights in snow
Temperature below freezing;
After Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Squash

Squash cooks fast
Which is good
Because two year olds move faster
Faster than just about everything
Except maybe butter melting
In a microwave
Turned on high
Four year olds aren't quite that fast but
They're more challenging
Kind of like trying to get stiff peaks in egg whites but
Not quite as bad as a meringue
Together they're a blur
So Thanksgiving Dinner is too
From the first chopped celery
Right through to the rolls
I'm thankful if there isn't a catastrophe or
A calamity or
Continuous chaos
So I pushed for squash because
It cooks fast

honesty can be tricky

We were pulling away from nursery school
When she asked me to read the name
On the Native American headdress
She was wearing
I tried my best to do just that
I read every word on the thing at least three times
I used different voices
I searched every square inch for
Whatever it was I was missing
That was causing her to scream no and
Dissolve into tears
But I could see only the name we had given her at birth and
"Princess Sit Bull."
Finally
Clearly exasperated with my cluelessness
She indignantly informed me
That she was
Princess Bull Sit And
After a short pause
I filled the remainder of the ride home
With the story of Sitting Bull and
The promise of lunch

Getting Lucky

Always tired
Often sick
Sometimes defeated
Sometimes sad
Sometimes hopeful
Usually amused
Often annoyed
Sometimes surprised
Sometimes bored
Sometimes laughing hard
Sometimes chuckling
Sometimes smiling inside
Sometimes having my back or leg or face
Rubbed by a little hand or
Kissed with little lips
Occasionally content
Often aware of just how lucky I am

Deep Thoughts

I try hard in my life not to be too thoughtful or deep or
Disappointed with normalcy
Now
The fact that I am consciously trying to do this probably says plenty
As does the fact
That it’s taken several years of being home with the kids
But just yesterday I realized that
I actually enjoy raking leaves
And shopping
And Cooking
Even with the kids
And that it’s really not all about succeeding or
Even exceeding expectations
I think that my son was sitting on my chest yesterday
When the revelation hit
So it may have been a lack of oxygen to the brain
But it wasn’t the first time
And it is only now that I am writing a poem about it
And
Well
Maybe I won’t think any more about it

Naked Train

Deals this good don’t come along very often …
My son agreed to let me take him upstairs
If I let him ride on my back
Naked
While
We both made
Choo choo noises
It wasn’t without risk and
I ended up giving a second ride
To a larger and heavier naked child but
We’ll use the photos at his wedding and
Moments like that don’t come along very often

Light

For Uncle Jim

Into the light or
Into the dark
I don’t really know but
I’m sure it’s not out of the darkness
Regardless of how dark the last year
Or two
Must have seemed
There’s always a glimmer
There was a glimmer and it
Wasn’t just in someone else’s
Blue eyes or
Curly hair or
Amazing brains and ass combination
Though she noticed them all but
It wouldn’t have mattered
Even if she hadn’t or
Hadn’t been interesting
Interested
Quirky or
Fun
To anyone
There is always light
Here in this place we have
Imagined
Built
Lived in
Passed thorough and
Will all one day
Pass on
Whether we always see it or
Not

the first event of the christmas season

christmas lights, cold hands
cider, roasting marshmallows;
and so it begins

True Love

Every nap and
Every night
He says goodnight and
Blows kisses
To a yellow die-cast metal school bus
With pull back action
Which stopped producing much action at all
Shortly after his big sister received it
In a gift bag at the birthday party of a little boy
Whose family moved out of town
Several years ago
It’s also missing two of its little rubber wheels and
Has two big pieces of double stick tape on top it
Where mom tried to attach two little wooden figures
Before he decided that he didn’t want
Little wooden figures
On top of the bus
It’s a good thing that the guys are gone
Because it was a lot harder to tuck it in
To the seat of the
Little Tykes red Family Van and
It isn’t any harder
However
To blow it a kiss
Say “bye bye” and
Lovingly rubs its side

Winston Churchill and Gummy Vitamins

I wonder if Churchill fortified his indomitable spirit
By taking gummy vitamins from his son Randolph or
Even a grandchild
While he stood in the shower
Stark naked
I’ve tried all day to get the visual out of my mind
Winston in nothing but a top hat
A cigar sticking out of his mouth
Which is drawn up in a friendly sort of scowl
Hand outstretched
Ready to take the vitamin
For what choice would he have had after
His son or grandson’s
Face dropped at Winston’s initial refusal
I imagine he would have flashed a victory sign at the boy
As he thoughtfully chewed on the vitamins
He’d of probably taken three as
He had a pretty stressful job
I stay at home so
My spirit doesn’t have to be quite as indomitable
I took two

Nightime in November

Gas station lights up
Wet leaf trapped in wiper blade;
Cold rain all around

Hand Washing

Today he washed his hands
With imaginary water and
Dried his hands
On an imaginary towel
Not once
Not twice but
Three times
Without ever imagining a single activity that could have
Made his hands dirty but
Never forgetting to take the towel from me
When his hands were wet and to
Hand the towel back to me
After they were dry and
Never forgetting to wear a smile that
Wasn’t the least bit imaginary

she put on his shoes today

She put on his shoes today
His shoes and his socks
All by herself and
It took as much time as you’d think it would and
As you can guess
We were running late but
In the midst of
Grabbing matching sweatshirts and
Filling up water bottles and
Checking directions and
Loading the car with
Pumpkin pancake batter and
Bacon and
Fruit
She put on his shoes for him
Patiently
Carefully
Lovingly
She even put the socks on his hands first
To make him smile
Although we’ll tell folks for a week or two
It won’t make the wedding video
It won’t but
Maybe it should because
She put on his shoes for the first time today and
That won’t happen ever again

not not

When he says “not not,”
You have to be ready
He only gives you a few seconds to
Insert the “who’s there”
Before he is on to “boo”
He’ll wait longer for “boo who”
But he won’t wait forever
So don’t trouble yourself with
Whether it is boo who or boo hoo or
Who will say “don’t cry”
No one will say it
There won’t be time for you because
He can’t and
He can say “not not”
He can say “boo” so
Be ready and
Be efficient and
You may be able to squeeze in a laugh or two
He’ll appreciate it
Whether he says so or
“not not”

Responsibility

Driving on a hilly road
Under railroad bridges
While my almost two year old son
Yells quack and
Smiles expectantly
Waiting

Aspic

Usually having a daughter is like eating Chicken aspic
Familiar yet exotic
More than just pleasant yet unmistakably disturbing
Sometimes having my daughter is
Like eating tomato aspic
When you have acid reflux and an
Allergy to 50’s cookbooks and
I have acid reflux but
I like fifty’s cookbooks and
I like the idea of jello and meat together
It’s a better combination than peanut butter and chocolate and
Hershey’s bought that for twenty three and a half million
Back in nineteen sixty three
I actually like aspic and
My daughter is a good one
A complete meal
Maybe poached salmon in aspic or
Sashimi in aspic
I’m not sure there is such a thing
As sashimi aspic but
I’m not always sure there can be such a thing as
My daughter

Thirty Feet

At two it’s thirty feet
That’s the limit
He won’t go any further
Even if he wants to
He stops
Looks back and
Calls my name
Not quite a scream but
Too loud for polite conversation
He won’t come back but
He won’t go any farther
Someday
Of course
He will but
Hopefully he’ll always look back

Parental Privilege

For me
The best thing about marriage and fatherhood
Is that the first hug of the day is
Never the last

ruminations on my father-in-law's 67th birthday

Hunter gatherers in the Kalahari
Use Ostrich eggs to drink water out of
Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs and
The yolk is the largest single cell
You can eat them too but
Make sure to have salt and pepper and
Maybe garlic and some other spices because
Apparently they aren’t that tasty
The egg shells can fetch at least twenty dollars
On the internet which
Is why the guy who runs the little
Antique shop and tree farm
That my daughter’s play group went to this week
Is sad that his ostrich hasn’t laid one in two years
I was surprised he had an ostrich
I knew about the carousel,
Kiddie rides, and
Miniature train but
I was surprised by the
Llama
Alpaca
Emu
Pygmy goat and
Ostrich
The Ostrich was forty years old
My daughter
Who is unusually insightful for four
Called it a Flamingo
The guy said it could live to be seventy but
That her egg laying days were over and
Thus he had glued a broken egg together because
They were twenty dollars on the internet
The Ostrich didn’t seem troubled as
She waited for a slice or two of apple
She seemed relieved
Thirty years to go and
No need to produce anything
To eat
Drink out of or
Sell and
I could have sworn that
As we drove out of sight
She stood on one leg and
Winked

Alone

For me
It’s 2:30 to 3:30
Every day
Kind of
Sort of
As long as alone
Can include listening to two children on baby monitors
While one is asleep and
The other is performing her one woman
Musical act
Complete with dolls, stuffed animals, and
The occasional invisible elephant

And it’s from 9:30 until whenever I go to bed
Depending on whether it’s not

I prefer not
Really
I do
Don’t get me wrong
I like
Teaching
Blogging
Applying for jobs and
Nashing my teeth over Lebron James and the BCS

I also enjoy watching movies
But not alone
Truthfully
I’d rather listen to my children and
Their mother
Sleeping

So
I stay at home

So
I watch movies in three installments

So
What about you?
When are you alone?

Evaluation

Three adults
And
Two parents
And
One word list
Forty some words long
And
Blocks
The little wooden ones with letters on them
And
An old spice container filled with little wooden rods
Just the right size to fit through the holes
And
Colored plastic cups
And
A wooden puzzle with very big pieces
And
A roomful or two of toys that didn’t come in
Two duffle bags
One black and one blue
And
A fancy apple laptop for taking notes
And
Lots of questions
And
Lots of jargon
And
One 23 month old boy
Happy Birthday
Almost

George Lee Anderson

Writing a poem is never quite enough but
My son is almost two and
It’s winter
So I can’t put him in the
Size 12 months
Tigers shorts and shirt
I don’t really like baseball enough
To come up with a convincing argument as
To why it’s necessary or
How it looks good to wear shorts on top of jeans
‘I should have done something when Chuck Daly passed’
Isn’t going to work
Still, I’d like to honor the moment in some way
With the kids
Maybe a meditation ceremony
The bless you boys meet Buddha
It would be a great learning experience
If death were a good topic for two and four year olds to learn about
But I remember what happened when I showed
Her a you tube video of the plane
Flying into the World Trade Center so
I’m sorry Sparky
This poem
Is going to have to be enough

Herding Cats

I imagine that trying to herd cats is like
Trying to put together a thousand piece puzzle
With a four year old
It’s rewarding as long as
You’re patient and
Not allergic

My lunch

My lunch is my life
Made last
Made fast
Eaten even faster
A piece of a nugget here
Half a yogurt there
A slice of cheese
A piece of candy snuck in
On one of fifteen or twenty trips into the kitchen
Just
A complete blur
That has little to do with sustenance and
Everything to do with
Reading words in the newspaper
Finishing a whole yogurt and telling the world about it
Stacking juice cups
Laughing at the cat
Laughing at each other
Laughing at the idea that I’m going to eat slowly or well
At lunch
Or any other time
For the next few years
Laughing at my lunch
Laughing with my life

first hint of colder weather

sweatpants and long sleeves
sheet with comforter on top;
not yet wearing socks

I am here

I know where I am
It’s eleven thirty
I’m in my office and
I just helped my daughter
Walk down the dark hallway to the bathroom
Waited while she went pee and
Escorted her back to her bed
Where I gave her a kiss and
Told her I loved her and
That I would see her in the morning
I know my place
She called for help and
I helped
If she calls again
I’ll help again
I know where I am
I know my place
I know I won’t always be here

The Day After Halloween

Can see my own breath;
Won’t see the Jack O’ Lantern
For another year

Living in an Airport

These days, I feel like I live in an airport
Which I suppose isn’t an awful thing
I’ve always liked going to the airport
Usually it means you’re going somewhere and
Since I’ve never really travelled for work
It usually means I’m going somewhere exciting or
Going to see someone exciting and
It always means I’m getting out of town
Unless I’m not
Unless I’m welcoming someone who
Is getting out of their town or
Picking someone up who is returning to mine
Even then I’m not unhappy because
I get to watch
Hugs, kisses, tearful embraces, and
People sprinting into open arms
Wearing those expressions that are so raw you have to turn away
It’s almost better than being involved in them but
I’m old
So I remember when all of this took place at the gate or
Even on the funny little retractable hallway
Connecting the plane to the gate
You weren’t supposed to do that but
When my sister came up from Columbia at three months old
My mom did it
Since then I don’t think I’ve witnessed it personally
Since then it seems like it’s been moving steadily closer to home
First it was back at the gate
Then came 9/11 and
Either you waited until baggage exchange or
You had your emotional reunion at the metal detectors
Then I had children and
Went where few men go
Home all day with the kids while my wife went to work
Every day and
Came home every day and
Hugged and kissed the kids each time she came and went
The ritual has involved sitting in the back of the car in the driveway
Waving from the kitchen window
Running down the street
Holding the two of them
One in each arm
As Mama drives down the street
Hand out the window waving until she turns the corner and
Drives out of sight
Regardless of the specific ritual, however
It is always emotional
Always involves hugs and kisses and
I am always watching
It’s like living in an airport but
As long as it doesn’t move right into the bedroom
While I’m still sleeping
I’ll savor the goodbyes and the hellos and
No matter how raw the emotion
I won’t be looking away

Beautiful Memories

Sometimes late at night
When I should be sleeping
Getting ready for another in an endless series of early morning wakeups
I am watching movie scenes on Youtube
Maybe the bar scene in Good Will Hunting or
Any Al Pacino speech or
The marriage proposal in High Fidelity or
Rene saying “you had me at hello” and
Being moved by the beautiful memories
That someone has seemingly created and
Put to music
Just for me

Not tonight though
Tonight I am staying up too late
Trying to find an appropriate way to record
How I felt this morning when my son
Greeted me
In the pitch dark of his room
By falling silent
Abandoning his chant of dada dada dada
Clamoring to the side of his crib and
Into my arms and
Clutching me tight
His hands on my back
Head on my shoulder and
Foot in my groin
Motionless
For twenty minutes
A moment he broke with a back rub
It is a moment worth staying up to commemorate
It is a moment when I again realize that
There are beautiful memories are really mine

Seren’s Halloween Poem

Halloween is trick or treating
At seven in the morning
Just kidding, that’s a trick
I really go at seven at night and
I get to stay up late and see
Dragons (That’s my brother) and
Vampire bats
(Beavers always have to be vampire bats because they have the teeth) but
The eyes can barely see
It’s dark and
I’m wearing a costume
A ghost costume
I’ll be a scary ghost
Two of my friends will be scary witches
We’ll all get treats
At school and
From houses
Halloween is trick and
Treat


By: Seren and Daddy

Fatherhood Is

Fatherhood is a red and blue wooden lobster
Sitting on the right side of the desk
Revealed by the light of the tiny little lamp
With the energy efficient bulb
That takes half an hour to get bright enough
So that you can see your hands
Looking up from
Amongst a half dozen containers of Albuterol Sulfate
The size of M-14 cartridges
It’s view partially obstructed by
Dirty tissues
Flung about as if there was a massive surrender and
Standing at attention
Poised to take on the two plastic chocolate chip cookies and
The ceramic doll from Iceland
As spoils of war

Sand is always in season

Raking the first leaves;
Playing at the sand table
In sweatshirts and jeans

Haloween Magic

A thirty pound pumpkin sits on the coffee table
Looking like something lifted out of the middle of the Cinderella story
A fairy godmother didn’t put it there though
She also didn’t carry it to the cashier
With a two year old boy attached to her leg and
She didn’t spend almost fifteen dollars for it and
She didn’t carry it to the car at the walking pace of that two year old
While answering questions from his four year old sister
She also wasn’t around last year to explain to the aforementioned children
Why we had two pumpkins taken off of our porch and
I know that this year
I have yet to turn down an offer of help from anyone wearing wings
But she did go and do all that magic for Cinderella and
Then I went and purchased the book she did it in from the thrift store and
Allowed it to be chosen for family story last week and
I don’t have a job and
We do have a lot of credit card debt and
We have plenty of anxiety and worry and
Could use a little magic
So
If it disappears tonight
I’ll thank the Fairy Godmother
Not for what has disappeared but
For what has been left behind

The end of an evening at the neighbor's house

Carried home by mom
Squirming, flexing, and Kicking;
Screams pierce the brisk night

Parenthood Is

Parenthood is
Cross country skiing
In the early morning
In the most beautiful snow covered scene you can imagine
With your very favorite piece of soft music playing in the background
Be it the Mountain Goats or Emminem
While carrying a backpack containing
A Chicken Pesto sandwich on freshly baked foccacia bread
A bottle of Riesling
Two plastic collapsible wine glasses and
Tom Thumb and his fat cousin Bertha playing
An indoor racket based sport
Inside a fifteen pound bowling ball
Skiing in fresh and deep snow
Towing a Bengal Tiger Pup
Who is usually a joy
Except when you want to go somewhere on skis

Misc.

The label says miscellaneous junk
The shoebox itself is filled with old negatives and
He hopes it has the old negative he’s looking for
The picture was taken from the top of a Windmill
Looking down a road on the farm
His cousin’s family’s farm
Where he spent many a summer day
When he was growing up
The farm that his cousin
Now closer to eighty than eighteen
Has just sold
The farm
The mention of which always conjures up
The picture taken from the top of the windmill
The picture he thinks he took but isn’t sure
His cousin might have taken it
After all it was his cousin’s farm
But his cousin didn’t get back into photography after retirement
In a big way
In a state of the art scanner, fancy software, multiple lens kind of way
So his cousin has nothing to gain from having taken great pictures in his teenage years and
Probably doesn’t care who took it but
He does and
Maybe the negative will offer proof so
He goes through the negatives one at a time until
He finds it and
The negatives from the other pictures taken at the same time and
Then
Five of six negatives in he
Sees another shot of the windmill with
A hand in the upper left corner
A hand
With only four complete fingers and
That brings a smile to his face
Because among the miscellaneous facts he might share about his life
If you were to meet him
Is the fact that at age fourteen
He shot off his pinky while preparing to go hunting
Thus
The four fingered hand is
Just the sort of label he was looking for

Changing Seasons

Sobbing and clinging
Face pressed against my shoulder;
Seasons all do pass

Sisyphus

Earlier today she had new shoes but
After a few hours and
A play date and
A playground and
Chalk drawings and
Two huge toe scuffs
She needs new shoes

How to Make a Ghost

Grab a white sheet

Find someone who can sew

Give them directions
Extravagant directions
Wonderful directions
Perfect directions
Make it flowy and elegant
It can’t go over the head,
It should be like a poncho
Or a choir robe
Only in white

Find a mask or
Some good white makeup or
A white wig and
Maybe a wand
Everything can use a wand

Then get white gloves
White socks or tights
White shoes

Lastly
Find a way to do all of this
Granting her wish to be a ghost
Without having to explain what a ghost is

I’m still working on the white sheet

Picture Perfect

Picture perfect
Then picture a little closer to imperfect
And you’ll have the right picture
Sometimes we raise our voices
We don’t always talk nicely either and
Often we don’t lie serenely in bed
Neither do the kids and
They don’t always say please and thank you or
Treat each other with the utmost respect or
Listen and
They are almost never quiet
They are heard but not always seen
The house is not always to be seen
The car isn’t always full of gas right before a day trip
The kids aren’t always bathed and
We’re not just talking smelly Sundays
Sometimes the cat goes days without having his litter scooped
Sometimes the cat hair goes days without being vacuumed
Sometimes our daughter laughs so loud it makes me cry
It’s really too loud and
When her brother dances
He has no rhythm
Just like his daddy and
He runs into things
Just like his daddy
He’ll probably end up in the ER a lot
Just like his daddy and
Maybe he’ll write poetry
Just like his daddy
That rambles around from mess to
Masterpiece and
Everywhere in between Just
Like his life
Which will be a little less than perfect
A little more like perfect and
Well worth picturing

Pumpkin Pie

It’s dark at seven;
Baking pumpkin pie from scratch
From real pumpkins

Colder Weather

Sandals are replaced;
Now I tie up his sneakers
Over little socks

Almost Two and Running

Running downhill at almost two
Is enough to make almost any parent sick
Even if it’s a grassy hill
With a soft incline
Strewn with flowers and
He’s running hand in hand with Heidi
If he’s running by himself or
Worse, with his sister leading the way
On concrete that has been tortured by tree roots and
Those folks who think maintenance involves
Letting their kids color on the rubble with chalk and
He’s doing the nearly two year old run
Which is more lurch meets electric slide than it is run
Then
Speaking for myself
It’s hard to maintain consciousness
But when he throws his hands up in the air and
Does his growl giggle
Well then you almost forget that two isn’t yet guaranteed and
You settle for running in front and
Letting him bump draft downhill at almost two

Sand

I want to hold on to each moment and
I can’t
Pictures don’t capture it
Poems can’t recreate it
Hugs end
Trips end
Vacations end
Bottles end
Naps end
Good moods always end
So much worth holding on to and
So many wonderful reasons not to even try

Trip to the Orchard

She picked one apple;
He picked one and a pumpkin
That’s still in his lap

Puzzled

Does one puzzle piece know any of the others?
Is it easier to make real connections in a 60 piece puzzle
Than it is in a 1000 piece puzzle?
Maybe location is more important than population
I think I’d rather be an edge piece but
I’m sure my wife would want to be somewhere in the middle
Surrounded and in the middle of things
I always sat in the back at the class
In the last pew or in the balcony at church and
In the aisle seat on a plane
If I could
I like space and
I always want an exit plan
Even if I’m probably not going anywhere
It would be nice though
Even for me
To have a friend and
You would think you’d have something in common with your neighbors
Even if it was just the picture on your back sides
Unfortunately
Neighbors often do match in that way and
Only that way and
It would be nice to do more than match or
Even not to match at all but rather
To really connect
To worry less about whether fit benefits function and
More about whether fit benefits us
To know more about what benefits us
To know where we are
Who we are and
Who we are with

To My Wife

A red tractor sits
In front of a red barn
In a dusty and rutted driveway
A white fence to the left
In front of the house
Surrounds a small vegetable garden
Red tomatoes
Red Peppers
Green peppers
Green beans
Some herbs and
In the far corner
Closest to the faded red chicken coop
Sits a Chinese eggplant
That is you

Picture

Curls
Blown dried straight with glitter and
Back with a drop of water
Brown in the winter
Streaked with blond in the summer
Blue eyes
Well on their way to being green
An amazing smile
Pretty teeth and full lips and a glow
That can become sarcastic or snarling
In the time that it takes laughing
To turn into screams and snarls
In the time it takes her to switch topics in a conversation or
Fixations
Cars
Books
Puzzles
Shoes
We have new shoes
In a new size because
She still likes the new shoe song at her pre-school
Where she just started a new year in a new class with new friends and
This Friday will have another school picture
Another school picture
Featuring an
Awkward,
Unsimiling,
Unposed,
Cute little curly head
Captured in its present incarnation
For all time
For now

The Tide

I have decided that I am becoming more and more like the tide
Going in and out over the same terrain
But not at the California Coast or
Even the Jersey Shore
More like the Delaware River
Or Core Creek
Wherever I am
It isn’t expansive
It can be smelly and
I find myself adjusting to an increasingly debris scattered topography
Without making any kind of impact
Not even gradual erosion
I am the only thing eroding
And now the toilet handle no longer does anything
The chain has come loose
I have tried to fix it but
It keeps coming loose and
I open up the back of the toilet and reach in to flush it
I don’t reach in every time
So it doesn’t always smell fresh but
I do it now almost out of habit
Adjusting to the new reality
In and out in the same old way