Life Long Delight

He took to soap and water from an early age,
standing on a stool, sleeves rolled up
playing in the suds.

As a college chap,
he was a regular with his chums,
second stool from the left at Chauncey’s Pub.

Not in it for the guzzling,
he liked to watch the suds drip down his glass
and feel the foam against his upper lip.

Retired now, no children of his own,
he’s become a summer legend
in the neighborhood corner park.

Washtub at his feet,
nets of string on two long poles
he dips and waves, and dips again.

Magic billows out across the lawn
this man, doing what he loves
is now, and always has been
the bubbles man.

Tap Into Life’s Lessons


Magic shoes! Shiny black with big looped bows
slabs of silver metal screwed on soles.
Best gift ever, when I was oh so young.
And oh how I remember…..

NOISE.
PURE NOISE!!!
Swing a leg. Stomp, march, slap, clang!!
Body all feet. ALL SOUNDS.
EVEN WHen i tiptoed.
Add lessons, Tuesdays at ten.
To learn.
Teacher teaches,
directs, muzzles.
Shu-ffle, shu-ffle.
Shu- no, NO, NO!
SHHHH!!!
Like-this.
Con-trol the-swing,
shor-ter. NOT so big.
Shu-ffle, shu-ffle.
One-two, one-two.
Slow-down. Con-trol the-sound.
Com-press your-space.

And there I was, in the mirrored wall,
shrinking. Like putting reins on little feet.
Learning to be small
while growing big.
Learning to fit in.

Bytes

That dog bit me.
Out of nowhere he came flying
like the proverbial bat out of hell
only bigger, with big teeth
a big bite
not like those feasting mosquitoes
on our sand dunes bike ride
not like the needle bite from
the tetanus shot
when you rushed me to ER.
So where were you this time?
When the dog bit me.

 

Not True

Do not say that to me.
I fall asleep just like you
just not for all night.
Shades down, lids down,
on my eyes, and on the loo too.

Do not say that to me.
Words fail everyone.
Talk stumbles when stress does not
children crave repetition. Repetition
teaches that sink-in kind of learning.

Do not say that to me.
My feet walk through that park
across the street, just like yours.
Except you’re accompanied by two wheels
and one foot pushing that scooter thing.

The one I gave Johnny for his birthday,
I think. I push four wheels in front of me,
all by myself,
and sing merrily I roll along
in perfect pitch.

Do not say that to me.
I will not leave my home.
I am not a hermit crab
that leaves one house for another.
And I am not ready to molt.

Do not say that to me.
I am NOT getting old.
You are.
And I’m pretty sure God is too.

 

Dustings by Two

NaPoWriMo Day 19:  without a prompt.  My mother loved talcum powder. The kind you “dust” all over yourself. I used to go into the bathroom after her and the floor would be slick and the room would have a heavy perfumed scent. One day, after she died in October 1998, I sat on a bench by her yard and watched as several birds found a dirt hole and proceeded to merrily take a dust bath. Sweet sweet memories juxtaposed.

Dustings by Two

Slick wet lavender tiles
window blurred by steam
she gaily sings and trills
pats and swirls a fancy puff
to create lily scented
clouds of talc
her dusting for the day.

Outside the window
hot bereft of rain
a blue bird warbles
wings flap flutter
dried dirt scatters
creates earthy clouds
of cooling swirling dust.

Tillie’s Folly

NaPoWriMo  without a daily prompt. Some people are bigger than life, right?

Ernestine by name, Tillie by choice
her steps swish with a joi de vivre
cultivated in French 101 enrichment class.

Blinking an eye, she sees the world in pink
through custom made cats eye glasses
with one fuchsia tinted lens.

Treasured childhood memories
hot vacation drives, windows rolled down
rest stops with pralines and all things Florida.

Collector of girlie things
orange blossom eau d’ cologne bottles
among lipsticks on the mirrored vanity.

Milliner by trade, homemade hats
spill from the antique wardrobe
in a cacophony of colors.

Eons of moons ago, a girl of five
learned to live her dreams
a spark of creativity began it all.

Red and yellow feathers molded to rings
she strutted through kindergarten
hand made tiara fit for a queen.

Tillie’s Folly, hat shop to the stars
sold to the highest bidder
her  sashay through life moves on.