Open Write September Day 4

Our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for the September Open Write is Larin of Oklahoma. She inspires us to write “I Thought You Should Know” poems in any form of our choice. You can read her full prompt here, along with the poems of others.

Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers at Slice of Life

To the Craftsman in Kentucky Who Made the Secretariat

I thought you should know

this piece has been in my family

since 1966, and we won’t give it up~

it sits in the dining room by the table

here in the heat of Georgia

with a fake plant on top since I

can’t keep real ones alive

like the matriarchs did

and I only wish I could rewind

time through all its days and

relive some of the simplest

moments next to it

through the years

as hash browns fried,

cinnamon toast browned,

bacon sizzled,

teaspoons swirled in steaming mugs

and family talked

~ really talked ~

in those hours like they’d have forever

only they didn’t

and we don’t

which is why, Craftsman, your

work of art is safe with us

turning back the years

in ghostly oak

memories

When She Comes Home

we stand upstairs in

her old bedroom watching deer

graze in the forest

empty nest feelings

come rushing strong when she’s here

happy tear visits

my youngest daughter

home with her forever love ~

a new family

The Muse

folks raise eyebrows at

kids with imaginary friends

holding full conversations

in complete worlds they

never see

but oh,

that kid with the

imaginary friend?

yeah, that one’ll be

a writer, and and that’s

the muse setting the

stage for all the stories

all the poems

all the books

all these memories

this journey that

fuels the pen

Lines

it messes with my

mind and heart, these

Titanic exhibits like

the one in Atlanta,

the Immersive

Experience

(no pun intended,

I’m sure, but I’d

have chosen a

different name)

I learned about the

Titanic as a child when

an elderly couple in

our church were

on the next boat out

late for their honeymoon

on the Titanic ~

the Testers, Mr. and Mrs.,

lived because they were

late, and for all the

cussing I might have

muttered missing my boat,

I’d have learned a

thing or two about

what it means to

let things go

and move on

I can’t imagine the terror

inside the hearts on

those lifeboats

all the loved ones

watching their own

sink to their deaths

in freezing darkness

as they rowed on

I wonder if F. Scott

Fitzgerald started

at the end of Gatsby

and then went to the

beginning to start

again

so we beat on

boats against the current

borne back

ceaselessly into

the past

which is why I

began taking photos

of snippets of

lines in the exhibit

wondering what

poems might

emerge, turning the

grief back to joy

The Lunch Tickets

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

we had a third grade

bully who kicked our

shins with her

wooden clogs

and pulled our hair

so we came up

with a plan to

steal her lunch

tickets she

bought on

Mondays for

35 cents each

and turned in for

the count each

day

she was a

child of addiction

poverty without

a mother ~ but a

grandmother

raising her

working hard

to make ends

meet for this

girl, angry at

the world

and not enough

clogs and

shins to fix it

and now

that I see life

from this side

I feel

deep sorrow

for our theft

because we

only hurt

grandma

and our

future

selves

who would

come to

know the

truth

Morning Games

I see his figure

peeking around the sage chair

looking right at me

acting non-chalant

resting briefly to lick paws

he stretches out, yawns

as if he does not

have a burning agenda

playing me a fool

his ball rests nearby

then a thump of his black tail

and a sudden pounce

an invitation

to an early-morning game

that I can’t resist

Prayer Chamber

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I think prayers take a

little travel time sometimes

so I pray pre-prayers

thanking the Good Lord

for His miracles I may

never know He worked

like avoided wrecks

and family protections

like health and safety

I wasn’t surprised

when my son called to tell me

his life had been spared

my morning commute

is my daily prayer chamber

no radio, news

I pray by name for

God’s will for all my loved ones

and I watch God work