afternoon ruined
by fits, girl drama, hot tears
door slams all around
revised plans depress
the youngest, innocent one
my couch cuddler
how red her eyes were
to think her sister was gone
how she loves us all
the mountains must wait
for a happier moment
free from prep tantrums
there is no freedom
from parent complexity
there is only hope
an afternoon saved
by the Pearl Street critters
that bring back our youth
Friday before break
in the land of exciting
reading on the couch
his war words haunt me
how slow and painful, peace
yet so undeadly
happy hour laughs
and three bickering daughters
wish they were babies
this sums my Friday
balance between love and war
lord let us find peace
with I-dare-you stance:
If Congress has a problem?
Then just pass a bill
finally some guts
i’ve been waiting six years to
meet my President
to me, they’re my kids
being ripped from mama’s arms
that’s why i hear him
please just pass a bill
bipartisan human love
to connect us all
just one day absent
an entire lesson lost
apathy rules school
for liberty’s sake
chemicals dropped from the sky
burn the communists
our government saves
the young boys it sent to war
now dying old men
but in Viet Nam?
cancer, deformities, death
are all we offer
Monday’s lesson stings
the words of a war veteran
burn like Agent Orange
silent tears again
this time my middle child
(won’t accept status)
to watch them slide down
i want to take my words back
then she wouldn’t cry
she is not like them
that’s why she reads it alone
and cries without words
later, smile on,
look, Mama, i hung my card
her tears forgotten
and so they will hang
the weight of one decade now
how hard the truth stings
how hard to admit
to my ten-year-old child
how surprised i was
i know why she cries
with that outward sister grin
an old soul, she knows
she’ll treasure those words
more than her Monster High doll
or anything else
birthday reminder
of surprising miracles
that shape who we are
she won’t disappoint
if she’s with me, she’s happy
no matter the place
if we could capture
her easygoing sunshine
we’d be millionaires
but who’d need money
if they could hold happiness
from a child’s eyes?
when winter arrives
snow makes an easy excuse
to beg for failure
three continents back
you’d have given everything
for this cold bus ride
forget the slick roads
breath visible before you
remember learning
Madagascar morn
biology sugar test
St. Louis pizza?
endangered lemurs
whine-free museum musings
provelle, cracker crust?
let’s not burn forests
enjoy easy-going friends
eat under the arch
saved on raft from storm
evolution miracle
lemurs, 3D, life
two free holidays
first one ushers in a storm
mountains disappear
skyline from here
is always magnificent
minus the whining
how influential
a video-head friend is
shuffled in with clouds
moms must compromise
perk warmth into snowy scene
where surprise awaits
no seats near the girls
overheard conversation
prettier than snow
a Vietnam vet
three decades of war photos
now he snaps for peace
how much do you charge
to bring your eye-witness view
to my refugees?
you see, there’s this book…
as all great requests begin
Inside Out and Back…
Again, he returns
to where he lost his manhood
and became a man
I don’t charge a thing:
without our youth, our schooling
the world won’t change
we make lesson plans
till the girls will wait no more
Happy Veterans’ Day
first free holiday
though nothing is ever free
let snow send us peace
