Now you sing along
even to songs
we don’t sing very much
I forgot about the book
of unknown
origin on the shelf
hand me down or thrift
store makes no
difference you understand
a song so singalongable
the wheels never
not go round and round
you raise your hands
at the close of
every verse punctuating
your own singing with
gestures of
exclamation making
easy the decision to
start over
again from the beginning
another chance to make
with your limbs
echoing your voice
your own refrain
your song
Category: Poems
-
The Wheels on the Bus
-
At Lunch Today
While recording the world’s most hilarious
video of a toddler at their highchair
in the known universe I marveled at
the facial recognition software pre installed
that allowed us to volley wow faces
and giggles in an ad hoc infinite
loop that might have gone on forever you
didn’t even abruptly announce all done
we traded grimaces side eyes smiles and oohs
like we invented them no idea what prompted
such an improvisatory outpouring of emotion
must have just been in the mood to let it out
all the mirror exercises peek a boomerang
toomerang soomerang all laugh & laugh again
-
Afternoon Dream
Thrift store full of
increasingly upscale
guitars and equipment
my mind spends
the bulk of my nap
trying to assemble
bells and wires that
have come unattached
when hung up the string
resembles numbers
from zero to nine
even in my dreams
I’m unpacking toys
from folded boxes
molded plastic
and wires not made
for fingers to untie
the child puts two
and two together
unwinds the screw
except gets upset
to see them apart
-
Folks in Town
When the folks arrive
in more than two dimensions
now here in person
you repeat it all
eager to sit and read books
five word sentences
come out of your mouth
like they are second nature
what skills you have learned
since last you saw them
ready for anything you
grow before our eyes
we sit back and laugh
-
Ice Cream Truck Haiku
Ice cream truck music
ringing through the neighborhood
is heard but unseen
Child is excited—
why? she has never seen one
could be the concept
of two awesome things
pasted and phrased together
prompts a trip outside
I see where it is
still within walking distance—
friends at the playground
instead—why not play
dragging a tractor around
within her control
the truck drives away
missing out on a few sales—
neighborhood moves on
plastic cone in the sandbox
-
Undeterred
by the noise of mowers
just as I opened the windows
you keep all your plans for the day
intact and take an early nap
-
Hide and Peek
Happenstance of neighbors
at the playground
eager to play perhaps
prompted by the novelty
of recognizing slightly younger
and older versions of themselves
as kids one of them hides and
the other apparently seeks
that is of course walks by the tree
by turns then reluctant to hide
herself our child fatigued
returns to our kitchen
runs to us in the living room
saying Hi and then as fast runs
back to the kitchen speaking
all the while recreating as
it were the position of both
the hidden and the seeker
the way she asks when tired
to ascend the stairs “I pick you up”
knowing I will of course it’s me
she means so called proper
pronouns get learned around
the visible tree along the way
from one room to another
-
The Shape of Hello
How did we lose
the natural shape
of the telephone
receiver to the ear
speaker to the mouth
the most intuitive
user interface ever
devised my child
takes one and knows
exactly how to hold
and communicate
imaginary conversations
and yet we relinquished
even the essential
as seen on Star Trek flip
to static flabs of screen
upon which we transmit
faces we still don’t know
how to hold just so
in our hands repetitive
stress screen fatigue
better to let the curve
nest in a cradle
we know how to answer
by saying hello