Nest

photo from wikicommons

When I get home from school

Grandpa’s van is parked in the driveway

So it is an extra good day

He is waiting inside with money

For my good report card

And mom says she is making spaghetti

For dinner my favorite she says

There is time to roller skate before

I have to set the table

So I lace up my new skates the ones

With the wheels made of polyurethane

Not metal like I used to have when

I was little I am wearing my

Favorite blue dress that

Floats around my legs

And it is before I have learned to

Worry about how I look when I move

So I am just fast and free and when

A gap in the sidewalk

Sends me crashing and tears the skin

Off my knee my daddy comes running

Down the driveway and scoops me up

I sob into his shoulder because it hurts

But also I am happy because I thought

That maybe I was too big for him

To do this but I am not and

To make me feel better Timmy

Offers to let me play with his

Sizzler race track and be whatever

Color car I want

During dinner my salad with

Thousand island dressing

Feels crunchy and sweet in my mouth

As Grandpa tells the story

About when he played football

For St. Cecelia’s and a boy on the

Other team had a full red beard

And after dinner my mom lets me

Put baby Kevin in his pajamas and he kicks

His chubby legs and looks so happy

That I think when I am grown up

I want to be a mommy

And feed my kids spaghetti

And make every night

Just like

This