My Sons

I want you to know
you have fulfilled
all my dreams for you
all my expectations
you are everything
I hoped
From the first
When you opened
your eyes
the baby in my arms
There was no way
for you to fail

Bicycle in a Tree

A bicyle in a tree is a funny thing to see.

A place to wonder, you will agree.

Great Blizzard 1978

I don't know if I was in Salem in 1978 but Steven and I went back when he was three. I was that homesick. There had been a huge storm. Bigger than my family had ever seen. We had no winter clothes (coming from Phoenix) and the family rushed around gathering clothes for us....Boots, winter jackets, sweaters, long socks, etc. The snow drifts covered the doors.

My cousin's husband picked us up at the airport because my dad had not yet been able to get his car out. Ron parked at his house because he would not have been able to turn around in the snow to get back to his house. My dad made me take his winter coat he didn't want me to be cold even though we were just down the street a little bit. We argued about it. Then Ron winked and whispered something about the pride of old people so I took the coat.

We had to go in the back door because my dad had not cleared a path to the front yet. A day or two later, Steven helped helped his grandpa dig out the driveway (he was three).

Hillside Avenue was covered in Pelletier's whether they carried the name or not. It was a well loved hill. Across the street and down aways lived Ron and my cousin Janet. Next door to them lived my cousing Linda, her husband and their three boys (they provided the winter clothing for Steven). Down the hill from us lived my Aunt Adrian and Uncle Omer.

That was the year I started thinking of Ma and Dad as old. They were in their sixty's. They were retired.

CATS

Cats cough up hairballs
shed hair and puke.
People clean it up.

Cats stay away from babies.
Babies pull hair,
twist ears and poke fingers
into tender eyes and noses.

Babies have fun
Cats don't
When babies do.

Cats shred couches also newspapers.
People get mad.
Cats don't care.

Cats are attracted to people
who watch television or read books.
People chuckle.
Cats get their ears scratched

Cats are attracted to people
who are sick or dying.
it makes people feel less alone.

I don't know what the cats get out of it.

Your Words Tell Me

what to do
what to say
what to know

lift me up
put me down
letting me cry

You whisper secrets
I need to know
I smile

weep
laugh
sing

You hold my hand
brush my tears
sing the song

I wrote for you

Stick Children

• 
  stick children skate on ice
  tiny figures with fluffy red hats
  on the edge of a crystal pond
  boys build a fire,
  roast marsh mellows crispy,
  parents stand in groups around a frozen pond
  they shout out to them the way parents do
  Belinda baby, be careful you might fall
  Andrew don’t let your ankles touch the ice
  Don’t trip on Tracy’s scarf , Sally Mae
  out of the side of her mouth,
  Andrew’s mom tells Mrs. Shaw,
  Andrew has weak ankles-ya know,
  but I think he will grow out of it
  little folks pull sleds an inch at a time up
  white covered mounds
  a group of boys practice playing ice hockey
  with their older brother’s sticks and pucks
  in the foreground the skeletons of seven
  swing sets stand bare of swings
  stripped for the winter months
  slides and monkey bars go unused
  snow and ice are now
  the playground toys
  hills and sleds more fun
  cars parked in the lot
  rusted chains on tires
  snow topping the roofs
  steam coming from hoods
  a blue purple sky tops
  a black outline of white
  snow over pale blue
  ice while an orange sun
  shines in the distance
  giving light on a cold winter day
  　

My Dentist

　
　
wider
don’t move
hold on
just a moment longer
you are okay
you’re doing fine
play the music
louder
if the noise
disturbs you
I’m sorry
for the taste
the pain
are you sure
that hurts
it isn’t supposed
to