The Stash

Friends are gathering tonight
in Tokyo.
I miss them, but I’ll be there in spirit.
Or in spirits.

Photo credit: RS

In the shadow of the north

The days have such
a sweetness to them.
Look!
Daphne blooming,
yellow tulips,
juicy strawberries,
the moon coming out
from behind the clouds.
I sat in my sunny window
and typed in peace.
The washer churned our clothes.
Water! Electricity! Internet!
Little miracles everywhere.
And under it all, the great sadness.

Settled

Funny how things sometimes
fall into place.
Never looks quite the way
I expect,
and yet at the same time
it’s just the way I’d imagined.

Thrills, Chills, and Red Ice Skates

Oh,
the thrill of
something so hard
I almost can’t do it–
skating that
thinnest of lines.

In which I bite my tongue. Hard.

Today someone told me his brilliant idea,
and I showed my support and enthusiasm
by pointing out– oh so helpfully– the ways
it could be improved.
Ay.
I hate it when people do that to my ideas.
So I went back and apologized.
He did not accept my apology by saying,
“That’s okay,” or “I know you wanted to help,”
or even, “Actually, I think you’re right!”
No, he responded charmingly,
“Yes you did. And it’s just ridiculous
for YOU to argue with ME on this sort of thing.”
I wanted to retract it.
I wanted to shout,
“Dude! You’re supposed to meet me
halfway! The rules of the apology are very clear!”
But that would have reduced my apology
to manipulation,
so I bit my tongue.

Happy V-Day

“Sweetie, did you wash your hands?”
She smiled her secret imp smirk.
“Go wash them, honey.”
She stopped and stared at me with awe.
How come when I smile like that,
you always KNOW?
Then the man wrapped her in her
stripey blanket
and took her to the window to show her
the snow
and the white quiet world
and I loved them both very much.

Such good, obedient yuppies

After purchasing
chocolates for a ridiculous
commercial greeting card holiday,
we purchased overpriced
trendy ironic hipster
children’s books
and drank delicious
capitalist frothy drinks.
And the kiddo tested her theory
that if one cap on her cup
kept her from spilling some of
her hot chocolate,
two caps would make it
unspillable.
Good theory.
Disproved.

In the endurance game, the 4-year-old always wins

After a day with my girl,
my parents looked
pretty tired.
“Did you just wear out
your Gummy and Grandaddy?”
we asked her.
No! she replied.
They wore out ME!
In which case they must be
tired indeed.

The Snow Day

The snow came down
and white light trickled in.
The vacuum cleaner shrieked its siren,
the panicked record player wailed in warning
and the furious voices screamed my failings
and launched their spears.
I tried to find my
quiet center.
Mostly I failed.
In the end, I had better luck
just letting the cacophony
go ahead and do its thing.
And letting the snow still fall
inside me.

Marvelous Monday Mornings

I love my family very much.
And I also love
that moment on Monday mornings
when they walk out the door
and I am blissfully
alone.