FATHER'S DAY POEM
I was gone for five days attending back-to-back teaching conferences. This was the longest I've been away from my kids, but it was ok since their daddy is perfectly capable. His one flaw: forgetting to lock the cars in the driveway . . .
trying doors
j.b. rowell
during my late flight
last night
or even when I was
on the ground
and headed home
someone ransacked
our unlocked car
bags of snacks
sticky change and even
a GPS wouldn't do
for a thief
who took a toddler
backpack mistaken
for a purse
left it on the lawn
open with crowds
of ants scaling
a nap blanket and
a book about a friendly
monster
not just violated
I felt my life's contents
discarded
by a society that leaves
personal artifacts behind
on the way
to the next driveway
trying doors
j.b. rowell
during my late flight
last night
or even when I was
on the ground
and headed home
someone ransacked
our unlocked car
bags of snacks
sticky change and even
a GPS wouldn't do
for a thief
who took a toddler
backpack mistaken
for a purse
left it on the lawn
open with crowds
of ants scaling
a nap blanket and
a book about a friendly
monster
not just violated
I felt my life's contents
discarded
by a society that leaves
personal artifacts behind
on the way
to the next driveway
posted by J.B. Rowell at 3:25 PM
2 Comments:
No matter what it is, having your belongings ransacked always feels like such a violation! After my year in Hawaii, we shipped our car ahead to California, flew over and drove cross country. In New Mexico, we woke up to find that everything in the car but one suitcase of work dresses had been taken, including even my stack of photo albums of my friends in grad school, in St Louis, and then in Hawaii. Everything else could be replaced. the photos of friends, not. A very hard loss.
Oh no Pris! Losing photos is the worst, we had a computer crash and lost baby pics, we burn them onto CDs now . . . thanks for the reminder to do some more of that!
Maybe you/I could write a poetic series recreating the photos? I still have the poetic series on my mind, but need a topic, that would be cool . . .
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