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
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
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
a flat starts the day
with a little pump, i ride
hills, mountains: progress
web site down, ends work
why not take the dry cleaning?
dead car battery
bored girls seek street friends
they’re at camp, then tutoring
where is their summer?
then, a text invite:
pool party, later denied
(for members only)
embarrassed, we leave
without the key to rich friends
our small house fills up
this after cold talk
screaming drive, snatching pillow
the girls unaware
of how i haiku
remnants of a hollow day
door shut, him sleeping
but before closed doors?
they street-danced on rollerblades
still making the best
i close itchy eyes
view the world through young faces
all i see is joy
sunny day at end
after a stormy summer
last pool before school
because i have lost it
the reader within me
the writer within me
kept silent by society
as i walk carrying
dripping wet shitty diaper
across creaky floors
and dog barks waking baby
and 7-year-old tears up
because i threw away the tooth chip
that she spit out of her mouth
after she fell off broken branch
and my oldest begs to watch
while the dishes fill the sink
and the cousin dazes under allergy meds
and the person i used to be?
she is the road through the forest
captured on a Tennessee run
while we run from Tennessee
while i run from Tennessee
tree-covered tunnel
going nowhere
because i have lost it somewhere
along that empty road
covered, covered, covered in leaves
how they block the woman i could be
the mother i could be
the view into a new tomorrow
that’s just around the corner
that i can’t quite see
Spain’s snowiest peak
its cold has blown away hope
siesta beats all
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