Parenting is

being there
even when you would rather be somewhere else
just in case
a tooth aches
or a throat hurts
or a nightmare interrupts sleep . . .
Parenting is
not about YOU
it is about HER
just as you promised her it would be
a heartbeat ago
when she lay, wrapped in a blanket
in your arms looking up with
trust and love.

She still looks up that way
and every time she looks
and you are not there
a piece of her dies
I hope your new life is worth it. . . .

Re-Building

From the rubble of what was my sanctuary
I am building
piece by piece
brick by brick
I seek out those that can
support their own
weight
one by one
they stack
form and shape taking
but
it is too soon to tell
the final product. . .
Is it is Bridge
or a Wall?

Referral Wanted

I've heard that the science
of beating the blues

has improved
since the days of
ice baths
and seizures
and that
electroshock treatment
can jumpstart a brain
back into a positive mode
. . . .
I know the old way could almost
erase
the offending memories
have they fixed that?
I hope not.
I want a blank slate
a few missing years
relieving me of the pain
of remembering
my sins
and your pain
and replacing it with
nothing. . . .

Truth in Advertising, Part 2

Used 46 year old
non-beauty queen
with trust issues
seeks someone
who can see past

a hard bumpy protective shell

to the soft parts inside

Truth in Advertising

40-something teenage male
seeking 20-something
chick with perfect hourglass shape
and even more perfect BJ technique
Must also have
NO expectations and
even fewer standards
to help me recapture
that Youth I missed
while I was raising my younger siblings
and running interference with
my mother's alcoholic boyfriends.
I want fun, fun, fun - -

so if you want anything more

don't call me. . . . .

Inevitable Accident

I once saw
a truck
hit a child
she dashed to cross
the street
just this much
too far ahead
of her Mother's protective grasp.

In that moment,
I was
struck helpless
watching
the slow motion
collision of flesh and bone and metal.

It is a sensation
I cannot forget.

Now,
as I watch You
race to collide with
the inevitable
I am again
struck helpless.

No Return, No Refund

You seem surprised
to open your own chest
and find
it is still there
bruised but beating
thrum. . . thrum. . . thrum
next to your own
Heart - -
it echoes life
back to me
across the distance
but it remains
with You
as always. . . .