fall Friday football
backed by blue skies, changing leaves
and the sweetest smile
Homecoming bonfire
just like our favorite movie
happiness lit up
Eritrean lunch
post-war teacher offering
how blessed they make me
youngest’s six sound bites
mad, glad, hungry, scared… favorite?
Mama’s “Für Elise”
tears backstage, waiting
for a song i can’t quite play
that’s her favorite sound?
middle school yelling
another homework battle
oldest sets standards
caught in the middle
daughter two rattles school story
steals bed time cuddles
how spicy, this meal
carried across continents
homemade, just like us
two chances to prove
that i deserve to be here
fall, winter, fierce fear
two chances plagued twice
year before? a standard test
today? dead Internet
set up my failure
as Google Classroom crashes
tearing me to bytes
i wish she loved them
as fully as i love them
instead? i strike out
after school, i walk
to get six-day car hostage
and then i see them:
top down, sun shining
classic MG sports car grins
this October day
yes, my mechanics
can charge whatever they want
cruise streets in fixed cars
we’ll be right over
hood open, my car broken
and i’m the failure?
daughter calls: tire flat.
sun, why dost thou forsake me
shining so damn bright?
my car stays hostage
we’ll walk into tomorrow
blindsided by fall
(i’ll dream of driving
of summers off, beach tours
of all that bytes me)
technically backed up
saving docs or wasting class?
back up and reboot
user unfriendly
tech for all, yet all are lost
digital natives?
native arrogance
in a web filled with details
that they overlook
login password failed
because of singular dot
Horton hears us all
little minions shriek
megaphones set, point taken
we are here, save us!
technicality:
life simpler, yet more complex
back up and reboot
a rainy Sunday
filled with empty prayers to god
that i can’t quite hear
imagine this life
wasted living for heaven
all to hide our grief
let grief live on earth
with our hands upon our hearts
bleeding to let go
the clouds broke evening
god did not exempt the rain
it flooded our souls
homework Saturday
spun through web of fall colors
parked our playground joy
old enough to ride
and catch dreams along the way
my girls growing up
last of season cones
pumpkin pie, football flavors
as the north wind blows
still sing childhood
though the oldest’s lost in books
hope i can find her
leaves sprinkle the ground
like fire light our way home
home… life Saturday
lunch hesitation
one year from Africa, lost
in linguistic haze
night in confession
one year from Spain, llevame
atrás, where heart rests
lost in translation
his understanding, my words
we compromise fear
it rests behind tongues
from mother countries, our own
till we can spit truth
let us excavate
set our syllables free, give
wings to our words
list of excuses
ribboned present presented
mail-ready, pre-sent
in the hands of god
swirling death surrounding me
don’t want to hear it
how do i work through
stress, grief, everyday mountains,
but you’re not able?
i see days through tears
gather up my girls in hugs
can’t you find your joy?
peace comes with jobs done
satisfaction of success
unwrap your conscience
just one mile walk home
to car-shop drop-off frenzy
begin evening stress
science fair project
won’t keep quiet on my mind
leaves alleviate
no avocados?
two wheels, backpacked ride to store
guacamole dreams
oldest cycles home
begins three-shower cycle
all by six-forty
spicy tacos rest
on spicy dream-home dispute
taste still in my mouth
all ’cause he worked late
foreshadowing our future:
crap hours, low pay
sacrifice my peace
for shut-in civility?
i’d rather be poor
rich are days with him
those hours in his absence?
a chronic longing
even the girls cry
as they will with no ‘good nights’
tears don’t buy us time
the two-income trap
snagging our life with more debt
all for image, greed
just one mile walk back
where refugee students wait,
offer perspective
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