morning chore cheer-up:
all summer clothes on clearance,
kids ride penny horse
turtle view walk
(kids swim free in Denver’s dream)
then neighborhood grill
tinker toy swing joy
with a dose of dream house night:
Saturday served up
Month: March 2016
All the Way from Spain
Cartagena dream
brought to me by bicycle,
fate, and Friday luck
Five Months Later…
joy for middle one
bed frame for her garden view
(and home for stuffies)
Night and Day
a new day has passed
in my bipolar career
today? just great kids
Spiraling into Control
after a draining day
with back talk on all fronts
i just want to laugh it up
at a simple game
between a spiral and a kitten
to spin my mood back
An Earful
to have someone listen
with eyes and words offered in peace
and make promises you know she’ll keep
and coo at cute colleagues’ babies
and smile behind tears we all so often hide…
it makes a Monday bearable,
a coffeehouse tea taste smooth and soothing,
a repressed voice feel fulfilled for the first time in years,
and a view into the future shine bright with silver linings
70 Degrees
ride along canal
to find new favorite playground
the March to summer
Reaching Forward, Reaching Back
my oldest rides now
while searching for climbing trees
that hold tight to youth
Serve It Up
a sunny March Friday
juiced with music and art
divided by a field trip
pounded by a parent teacher conference
squeezed between piano and happy hour
(tea for me please)
topped off with restaurant and workout
and the cooling creamy dream
of mint chocolate chip
for a sunny side down ending
to my never ending meal
In Case You Wondered…
the school door is locked at 5 a.m.
in case you needed to know,
your key card will conjure the green light,
but the door won’t click open.
7-Eleven is open at that hour,
and there’s no traffic on any street.
nothing but a sliver of silver moonlight
competing with the dull yellow glow of city streetlights.
you can walk with fear in your step
(who is that hooded creature?)
while waiting for the door to open.
listen to your audiobook about the
Roosevelt Panama Canal scandal.
(wish you hadn’t heard it, wish Roosevelt could remain the king of conservation you’ve admired atop
Mt. Rushmore, glasses, grin, and all)
you can find yourself at 5 a.m.
piled under papers and planning,
sleep surrendered to 4-prep stress,
solace comes from pre-dawn accomplishments.
(the door clicks open at 5:30.
before the secretary can check you in.
before breakfast lunch carts arrive,
and hundreds of hungry hands hanker for your time)
you can start a day at 5 a.m.
it will be inundated with a quagmire of mother’s guilt and teacher’s helplessness,
all because of a shuttered door.
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