The last day of my winter break before going back to work this morning was not a morning of sleeping in or relaxing. There were things to do that could not seem to wait on a Sunday morning. Perhaps 2026 will be a lot like this ~ getting things done with some sense of urgency. It is already Monday, and we are back at it, both of us, off to work and back into the grind of the routine. I’m holding on tight for the ride.
our Sunday wake-up call came early
on brand-new sheets
not even yet washed
we usually get
a warning: (the wretching)
not this time ~ there it was
between us
regurgitated orange dogfood
Ollie stiff-stepping off the bed
clearly the sick one
6:55 a.m. and on the way
to the sink I saw it in the floor:
he couldn’t hold it, either
to add to the madness
Boo Radley quivered
like Michael Flatley’s feet
hugging my ankles like
a furry shadow
I picked him up
(he never wants to be picked up)
heard the chirp of the smoke detector
and it all came clear: terrors
from his former life
abandonment
in a fly-infested duplex
a smoke detector that drove
him over the edge
like Chinese water torture
with sound
I soothed him
changed our fitted sheet (again)
Briar, meanwhile, thumbed
through his deluxe battery
organizer, changing every
smoke detector 9-volt in the house
Ollie brought me his ball
wanting to play
one toss didn’t hurt
Briar trudged down the stairs
t-shirt and underwear
carrying a vintage step stool
I whispered to Boo:
your daddy’s slain four dragons
singlehandedly just now
and our bed is ready
the dogs and I stepped outside
just off the porch
into the cool, misty fog
suddenly
through the silence
gunfire
I offered a silent prayer
for the deer family
summoned the boys
back indoors
into silence
and clean sheets
7:10 a.m…….(but who can sleep now?)
Common Threads 