marriage
Scene Five from a Marriage
scene five from a marriage:
a broken spring equals a broken toaster
but not just any toaster
my bake-everything toaster
my savior to a shitty oven
my air fryer
my baker of brownies and pies
my upper-class kitchen in my middle-class house
i asked if he *thought*
it could be opened up and fixed
and before i’d moved the laundry
from the washer to the dryer,
he had the drill out.
you’ll never find this
i want to tell the world
my daughters
my soul at age nineteen when he walked
so uncertainly
into Pete’s Kitchen
but i did.
i found the man who’d drill a toaster
on a hellish Thursday
a Thursday dripping with tears and self-doubt
just another scene
from a marriage that works.
Scene Four from a Marriage (Fences)
it's not romantic
and yet it's so romantic
i garden. he builds
Scene Three from a Marriage (Love Yolk)
Here I am at home,
and he tells me not to take a pic,
that “it’s only an egg”
though a moment ago he said,
“we better move her or she’ll overcook”
and like precious cargo
he slides her onto the plate
still in his uniform
at the end of a long day.
a long day for a teacher–
for a human–
he sent me a text three-quarters into third period,
almost lunch.
“Two staff members shot at East High.”
three miles from my school
three million bullets into my heart
three months into 2023.
it’s only an egg.
it’s only a threat.
it’s only a gun.
so carefully, he cooks the sausage
(in a separate pan ’cause I won’t eat it)
Scene Three from a Marriage.
the marriage he allows me
where I can take this pic against protests
and write a poem that’s not a haiku
and wrap my arms in the love
that the boy with the gun didn’t have.
and only you,
you standing there tomorrow morning with me,
in front of my Newcomers,
in front of this American high school,
can feel that love bleeding through
through
through–
the love for that burst yolk,
that perfect yellow yolk–
the love the boy with the gun didn’t have.
I Needed this Day
Scene Two from a Marriage
Scene One from a Marriage
Ski Reverie
ski day reverie
filled with powder grins,
soft turns, silent flakes
always a long day
yet happiness takes its time
falling from the sky
A Fresh Look
twenty-five years back
he asked me to marry him
so began our lives
Road Trip 2022, Day Five: Tree Heaven
the sound of leaf breeze
is impossible to miss
from the top? perfect
there’s just nothing like
five giddy little-teen girls
breathing us all in
our poor Daddy
outnumbered seven to one
without one complaint
Step Write Up 