Halfway There

my perfect symbol: 
trying so hard for peaches
even while dying

What’s for Dinner?

graduation day
bleeds into normal doldrums
(life's quick, painful truths)

she graduates now
my baby girl, all grown up
in this Red Rock Land

there's no heartbreak here
just my girl, eighteen years old,
ready to face them

sneakers underneath
(pandemic proms are outdoors,
under tents, in grass)

she's taller, braver.
in her silver floor-length gown,
she masters the night

and aren't we a crowd?
this master-mix of humans,
standing on these rocks?

unsinkable us
right below the Molly Brown
(ready to swim. Win.)

graduating girl
ready to face the world
one ray at a time

vaccines could save us
(yet not from the ignorance
spread without needles)

first day of first job
(the best COVID milestone)
let us shed this slump

blooming badminton
(a few moments of teen peace
before bickering)

the blooms of today
will disappear tomorrow
and it hurts. it hurts.

a birthday ski day
followed by badminton, cake
and these perfect blooms