My glasses tint the world grey
It's not sweet to see the street performers on Sunday afternoons
She's going to be evicted unless her pop and locks thrill the masses
He had to sell his dog because no one was hiring floppy-haired, sweet souled, bad at math boys
And mediocre saxaphone doesn't get you anywhere except the back corner of a Moe's 
The snow isn't pretty
Pretty soon it will be a pile of brown slush in a field somewhere
Just like you and me
And I could never forget-me-not the flowers
Did you know flowers are some of the most toxic plants on earth
Always tweeting about you behind your back and destroying your kidneys and spilling soda in your purse
Science is cynical
Math is maddening
Beauty is ephemeral
Your art will be created by robots in six months
Her glasses tint the world golden
Like her hair blowing in the wind
Look at the acrobats! Look at them soar!

How to take care of a father
At some point your father will get 
Sick
And you will have to take care of him because your parents are divorced 
And even though you can only cook frozen pizza and edamae and know
Next to nothing about how to call in a perscription at the pharmacy
And how to shovel the driveway and clean the heater's filter
You will offer to do it
Because you
Are a Good Daughter
Here is what you need to know
1. Fathers have a harder time swallowing their pride
Compared to mothers
Maybe their adams apples bob in the way 
Like buouys on the river dignity
(It's a long
Wide
River)
He will not ask for help making the coleslaw or washing the dishes or doing the laundry
Your job is to Notice
2. Fathers sleep more than the average chinchilla
When sick
The chinchilla sleeps 12 hours a day and moves around very little

"On one of my shoulders sits a demon named
Maurice the Second
On the other sits Dakota.
She's supposed to be my angel
But instead of a glowing ball of light
Shining from within, smelling like a mother's pride and autumnal wind
I found her in a pile of beer next to 
Three Times the Charm Casino
On the side of the freeway.
I guess that's why I'm here."
The detention officer stares at me like I said
I started attending synagogue
I ask for a lollipop but not the orange kind that make my tounge fuzzy
Maurice the second says demons only like orange lollipops and I am going
To do very poorly in hell
Dakota says she's not doing sugar now
And I will also have to buy celery and stevia and cranberry juice
When I finally get out of here
Once I esxplain all this I am checked for a concussion 
Twice
My glabella is poked and prodded and pinched

I never knew why she couldn't tell me she loved me
I was a good daughter
I made her breakfast in bed
I kissed her flushed cheeks when she was ill and droopy
I danced for her in the living room and down the street and through the water
I breathed to make her happy
I told her I loved her a million times a day, and she would smile
She told me it back
But never truthfully
"Do you love me mom?" "Don't be ridiculous, of course."
Or
You look so pretty today with your teeth brushed!
Or
I loved your poem last night
But never I 
Love you
Alone
And the worst part is I can't leave
Because I love her

Today
Is my mother's birthday
She shouldn't have to buy herself a cheap, box-mix birthday cake
If I could plan it all
If the family were together enough to plan it all
I know exactly what I would do
First, wake her up with breakfast in bed
And roses, daisies, daffodills, lillies, zinnias, chrisanthimums, all the flowers for the fairy queen
Eggs, toast, bacon, butter
Bacon bacon bacon bacon
And she could eat all she wanted and feel pretty, inside and out
It's magic bacon
She wouldn't have to walk
My mother only floats on her birthday
Tumbled up by the wind like samarah seeds
No one would fight for a day
Just a day, it seems like so little to ask for
Apparently its's not
We would roll to school, and she would stay at home
Bang the gavel at work like she is so apt to do
Wrap every loose end up in a tidy bow
At 2, a deliveryman is at the door

I didn't glance at him
Well maybe I did
But only once
Only once.
And then a few more onces
He was taller than me
They're not usually taller than me
That was intruiging
He smiled at me
I smiled back
We both blushed and blustered
I turned to the wall in front of me
Fully attentive to the paper towels
How, then, could I have caught his eyes on my profile
And while he was grabbing yogurt, how did he catch my eyes
On his smile
He left, of course
But he filled my heart with bubbles and cake
And butterflies
For a day
Maybe it's fate
A strange coincidence
Or maybe it's just the air in Hannafords


 

Blue is when you turn on the television
To see a monster sitting at the oval office desk
Blue is when the radio sings
Exploding with the blood of fallen rebels
Blue is when father cries at the dinner table 
Late at night
Because his daughter hasn't smiled in weeks
Blue is when the relaxing bath turns into convulsions and gagging and wiping furiously
Looking at the list of your shampoo ingredients
Chock full of shark gills, and pig bones, and death
Blue is the fact that the child I watch has never known
A world where we can look up
Just a little bit
To our leader
Blue is looking down at my legs and feet and hands
And thinking about how they have never been granted a part
In creating this country
Just because my chromozones were different
Blue is the feeling I feel when I spy a flag
All of a sudden, I see
Just how blue the world is

The world whirls steadily
I revolve rapidly
The brooks will always be gossips, babbling behind your back
While you will never know what I wouldn't whisper into wishy-washy waves
The river will always meander, moseying madly, making amends with it's mother
I tap and trip and tumble along at terrifically differing tempos
The willow will weep waxy wishes that wilt and wither away 
I cry, crazy curses down at mother creator, calm and collected a few minutes later
The bees will always buzz, baby
Buds will always bloom, bushels of bluebells bursting brightly
But I,
You never know what I will do next




 

She is blind
And refuses to wear glasses
Which wouldn't be a problem
If she didn't insist on driving

They have come and gone
As frequent and relentless as the tides
As I have grown
Sssstutters
Tic tic tic tics
DON'T SAY IT YET
3 
2
1
Compulsions
(There's someone behind you)
Intrusive thoughts
. . . 
A lack of emotion.
And though they have surged in, lapped around
And then rolled out
Wishy-washy like waves
The water leaves splotches on sand