The Wink

November 9, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Father’s scrutinyinspired terror,but that night,catching the whiffof alcohol onunderage breath,I spied a hintof a sparkle –dared say so “Chip off the ol’ block, eh?” “Don’t you know it,”he winked back. (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson.Image my own)

On Gender

September 23, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Does the moon envysun’s glorified reign –(gender inferred) Sons were sunin my family,we women lunar Father straddledthe two – a secretwe fought to suppress Fluidity of pronounsnon-existantin formative years. (Image my own)

Sunday supper table (sestina)

September 5, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

Two at the ends, two at the backone for the cook, one for the helpthis was the way of Sunday’s table:hungry tums anxiously waiting,family dog glued to the floorlest any scrap should need saving. Father would pray for all our saving;serve himself before handing back,while Mother paced the dining floorever offering us kids some helptill […]

Survival of the Wittiest

September 2, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Father demanded first slice of pie doled out with high brow perfectionanything less unacceptable Crumbly bits unleashed a tiradethe shame of incompetencecrushing the reluctant server Oppressed as we werewe children plotted,sought a suitable revenge He got his just dessertcherry with a subtle trace –scent of satisfaction. (Note: no parents were killed in the writing of […]

Sisterly Love

July 31, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

It’s just a moth, I offeredthat blue moon nightrattling windowschafing nerves We’d chosen exile –sister and I – refuge from family demons, not ours to claim Innocence borrowsresponsibility – I boreit like a badge;she shattered Could not discriminatedarkness from her owninner light – soughtto end the fury I’ll carry us both,I murmured, too youngto recognize […]

Liberated?

June 10, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Call myself liberatedbut this modern woman’sshadow arches backwardsfinds its reflection in legacies How can I forgive my own failingswhen their tale takes root inoppression and abuses long passed?Liberated a misnomer. (Image my own.)

Talk To Me of Horses

March 18, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

Talk to me of horsesthe young man saysthin locks of blonde mattedon a sweaty brow, flashes of bluethat fade as eyes succumbto weariness, the constantwhoosh, whoosh of respirator. Talk to me of horses:the world is losing its gripand I care not aboutthe weather or car mechanics,but I dream of horsesand I am feeling so emotional […]

No Idea!

November 19, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Girls are lucky: just need to find the right man –looked after for life.Advice from a teenaged brother. Right! I yell back, fifty years later.It was all a vacation –raising the children on my ownlooking for God in the midst of chaospartners with wandering eyesor absent…always absent…still waiting for that “looking after” And how did […]

Familial

November 17, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

History invents theoremgeneration repeatingvariations on a miseryabsent fathersmothers overwhelmedheartache weldedinto young psychestill inspiration invitesa new hypothesis. (Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)

Looking For Silver Linings

August 25, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Shoulder to shoulder we contemplate clouds, hunt for silver, my brother lost, then found, ponders what ifs – clouds become threads, unite us. (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Photo mine)