Abecedarian for TOP

She sits on the sofa
sometimes all day

and traces my movements
to and fro
through the tired afternoon

until the umbrella
of evening unsheathes
its shadow over us

and I’m verging on violence.
I love my mom
very much and treat
her as tenderly as my Nonie
took care of her African violets

but wearing away
by doing nothing
wears on my world.

So I offer her a glass
of wine and we play
a game of cards
which she wins

in exceptional excellence
and my xylophone whining
mellows out.

The soft yellow
of the dining room light
bathes us in butter
and instead of yelling
my frustrations at her

I laugh and enjoy
the buzz, the companionship,
and the zippity-doo-da
of being in mom zone.

Yard Sale for TOP & The Monday Poetry Train

A father and son
play baseball
in their yard.

Every time the boy
hits the ball
a dog chases it

then they have to chase
the dog. I slip
this image

into my word bank.
A scrawny woman
sits on her porch,

cigarette dangling
from her lips,
watching ragged kids

run around her messy
yard, the butt bobbing
as she yells at them.

I add her to the piggy bank
getting heavier
by the mile.

A fine, muscled specimen
of maleness
is mowing a lawn

shirtless, all bronzed
and chiseled. Another
shiny coin

of detail slides
into the bank.
I continue driving

my eyes eating up
every morsel.
When I get to camp,

I’ll break the bank open
and write a poem about
the human yard sale.

3WW: Dangerous, Keepsake, Restless

Ants in my muscles~
feels like dangerous spasms,
keepsake of old age.
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME
Keepsake of old age
feels like dangerous spasms~
Ants in my muscles.

3WW: Folly, Ordinary, Hostile

Sunlight eases itself into my classroom
and wraps around the students
sitting obediently reading Antigone.
The word “folly” is mentioned
several times describing
Creon’s disastrous decisions.

The person reading inevitably
pronounces it as “foley”
and I can feel myself

getting hostile. I think
What is so hard about this word?
Dolly, Molly, golly, jolly, Polly.

But folly becomes foley
like holy or holey or wholy
and I just want to scream.

Instead, I look at the morning
making it’s way over the bent
heads of the kids, turning them

from ordinary to golden
and swallow the annoyance.
“Good job! Thanks for reading.”

Song Lyrics for TOP

Every Friday I play a song for my kids and pass out the lyrics, too, so they can follow along and think about them. Last week, the lyrics were so simple and superficial so I said to them, "I could write better song lyrics than this!" I tried. Well...it's not that easy!
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The Wedding

Our friends were getting married
And we fought about the gift.
I suggested silverware
But you were for a fifth.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head;
I’d never win, of course.
We were going to a wedding
And heading for divorce.

You sat beside me in the church
But left a space between.
I listened to them say their vows
And swallowed down a scream.
I wondered why you hated me
I didn’t know the source.
We were sitting at a wedding;
I was thinking ‘bout divorce.

Later at the reception
In a silence filled with ache
You stayed on the other side of the room;
I thought my heart would break.
Then I heard them play our song
And felt you touch my back.
We danced and every movement
Put us more and more on track.
Our love was stronger than your fury.
It rocked us with its force.
We were dancing at a wedding
And forgot about divorce.

Worry for Sunday Scribblings

Did you ever have anyone
hand you a glass of wine
in an expensive wine glass

thin as a skim of ice
on a pond? You hold
that stem like a delicate

rose. That’s how I feel
about my mom, now. I
love the wine, but

the container is just so fragile
that I’m afraid she’ll break.
I hug her as gently as possible.

3WW: efficient, optimize, treacherous

Waterfalls of change
are treacherous. I paddle
with efficient strokes.
OPTIMIZE MY CHANCES
With efficient strokes
I paddle through treacherous
waterfalls of change.