Picture this:
You spend your whole life
learning to say no.
And then:
A small human
who looks like you
comes along,
and all that practice?
Yeah, it’s gone.
Out the window.
With the wind.
And you find:
You don’t even care.
Because, truly, who could
say no to that face?
Summer around here is watermelon season.
Lucy approves.
…when we do it together.
These two, y’all. I’ve never seen two creatures more determined to be best friends.
If I could tell you one thing
it would be this:
Don’t wish away your precious time
thinking of easier days and free minutes,
dreaming of fewer obligations
and less stress.
Because the truth is,
there is no less.
There’s only be and do.
There’s only now,
and here,
and being on the swing
with you.
We had to say goodbye to Annie on Monday.
It’s been a hard week. Monday was a hard day. I don’t know when we’ll feel better. I do know that from the day we brought her home way back in 2010, Annie gave us all her love, and she brought us so much joy.
I do know that she made our lives better every day that she was here. I hope we gave her a happy life, too.
And I know that we’ll love and miss her always.
My sweet little weirdo. She was tired and slow, at the end, but she never lost her spark. She was a good dog.
I’m used to old house problems. Remember the mystery pipe? Or the ceiling with no actual support joists? Yeah, I was pretty unfazed.
And silly me, I thought when we moved to our new home – a relatively young and spritely 25-years-old – that I just wouldn’t have to worry about any kind of house problems for a while. Which is good, frankly, because it’s crazy around here with a toddler, a dog, a cat, and a husband who is amazing but often forgets where he left his everything. But y’all, here we are.
New house problems.
Sigh.
It’s not that big a deal. Our washing machine is leaking, and we didn’t notice until it started actively dripping. Through the ceiling.
Because you know, we don’t have enough going on, and they do say that when it rains it pours. Apparently, through the ceiling.
The good news is, this should all be fixed relatively quickly. There’s not any real water damage, and no signs of mold, and the washing machine will either be an easy repair or an exciting replacement. (Because when you’re almost 40 with a toddler, a new washing machine that works better and faster is, in fact, very exciting.)
So, as always, onward. Dryly, hopefully.
You are
worth your weight
in every ounce of the
stardust
that made your
beautiful,
once-in-a-lifetime
soul.
“…then you didn’t say no, Mama.”
Guess I’d better get used to this, huh? (But honestly, it’s fine. Everything in that drawer is plastic. At least, it is now. 😉)
I wish I had it in me
to pity the
hateful people
who’ve brought us to this precipice.
Taught only to be
afraid and angry,
the rage is all they’ve got.
I wish I were strong enough to
give them grace.
But I’m not.
Being a mom keeps me busier than I have ever been in, well, pretty much my entire life. And it’s been a very long time since I’ve participated in a poetry challenge. But this one, y’all? It’s good. Really good. This one I could not pass up.
So here is my submission to Rebecca’s April poetry challenge over at Fake Flamenco.
************
How tragic that so many can see the
beauty in nature with all its diversity
and act to eradicate that same quality
in our shared humanity
as if we live separately – detached, isolated –
from the very earth that made us.
************
If you’d like to participate, as well, you’ve got until April 20th to post a poem of your own. I hope you do!
A Virginia Writer's Diary 