back to old routines
information overload
do as i say, not…
day’s success stories
vary, depending on view
mine: crosses they’ll bear
now for new nightmares
first-day jitters springing up
fan fires sun’s laugh
bring on my Friday:
arrange, plan, copy, paste, bake:
teacher-mother pie
always a puzzle
time for nothing but my kids
theirs and mine: ours
a blank, shiny slate
overwhelms the burning morn
let the work begin
alphabetize books
search hall and soul for lost desk
afternoon surprise
shiny, bright bookshelves
walls lined with latest titles
how i hope they’ll read
with cheese stick melted
i give in to a day’s work
till shiny kids come
a gift, to turn eight
the loving card, matching clothes
doll’s, girl’s paradise
with double pancakes
and grandmother surprises
she lights up the world
adventure downtown
homemade pizza by Daddy
she spoils us all
heartbreak, to turn eight
that many years past my last
my baby, always
with actual warmth
my working days’ renaissance
the school year begins
teachers’ joy, kids’ joy
collaboration and fun
where was this last year?
to put students first
we must see through their small souls
our world’s their future
hope renewed, i’ll start
with the first smile of morning
let us be the best
the morning breakdown:
poles, bags, pans, miracle trunk
pack our memories
quick stop for short hike
pass waterfall, aim higher
switchback to our view
it is a fine sight:
family of five, swollen legs
lake steals horizon
five showers, three loads
phone calls, dishes, and errands
aprés camp bed? YES!!
an imagined home
from stuffies, rocks, wildflowers
neither fight nor screen
Colorado lake
full of fish, too cold to swim
sunbather’s beauty
marshmallow dessert
to toast twilight adventures
camping tastes so sweet
“&;
silver blades cut grass
mad dash for registration
test Ukrainian
new face with bright smile
knows his English isn’t great
how will he survive?
miracle trunk packed
in temporary dream car
life’s a rented dream
reservation lost
we take his lucky number
campsite without view
girls venture for joy
find una buena vista
wood-filled arms return
though we lack lake view
the mountaintop appeases
so rocky, this life
that makes our Friday
mow, pack, register, test, camp
obligations, loves
over basketball
we come clean with our spent day
he out shoots me; wins
meandering drives:
his through streets, mine through planning;
family meets career
girls sing their way home
in Spain, street dinners would start
here? hollow, dark paths
i’m trapped here for now
because i love kids too much
equal, theirs and mine
over drinks divulged
the story of single life
that he saved me from
penniless in months
i’ll press my lips against his
and let love beat all
better than harsh words
or baseball abandonment
why i married him
we will survive this
as hard as the year in Spain
that i so long for
eighty years of growth
add: wealth, greed, inept builder
gone in just one day
innocent zoo trip
obscene scene not to be seen
look, he has two trunks!
saved by water show
he forgets his bold catwalk
trainer blames teen angst
stories of summer
popcorn, snow cones, puberty?
the birds and the bees
better lesson now:
friends by day’s end, sharing slurps
two trunks forgotten
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