And then you were three

 

 

Suddenly you were three, glowing at night with

Your skeleton bones, and yelling for your rights to 

The owl pillow, the one that I “loaned” to you and your sister, not knowing it would be the origin of endless dispute. 

You’re three, having received three flying gifts, two helicopters and a plane, although one looked like an RV with wings.

You’re suddenly three and your sister is five, I’m 67, seeming to rush towards 68, these bones crackling at night,

Rather than glowing, this age does not call for helicopters, 

Rather the comfort of home after a long voyage, as I wave good-bye to my husband who heads home, I am here listening to the family conversation in the next room, remembering those days, not so suddenly gone, seemingly

So long ago. 

Frida Kahlo's message: Keep going!

Polio age 6 

And a bus accident, age 18,  

Why not spend 10 months in bed gazing at yourself in a mirror

That your Mother hung over head, nothing else to see

Why not paint yourself, there's nothing else to see

In Hospital ABC, 

Why not marry someone who is always chasing other skirts,

Another artist, 20 years your senior,

Keep going, keep going, decorate your corset

And paint your shoe that lengthens your right leg

Shortened by polio

Why not paint a watermelon with seeds from your wheelchair

To tell us all to accept the seeds in the sweet fruit of life

Because it's all we have, 

Live every day.  

She did. 

Be my teacher, Frida Kahlo. 

 

Victory!

The ballots were not even all counted, but we all knew.  Our man, Mamdani, 

Raised his right arm in victory to the roar of the crowds, a victory for the

Parents who needed to know their children were cared for while they worked,

The grandmothers caring for little ones and needing food for them, the ones who had no jobs,

Those who work and still need SNAP, and the ones who live well but know that the last 

Election only delivered misery and loss to our Beautiful Country. 

The biggest since 1960, these voters, who no doubt braved obstacles to vote,

But by hook or by crook, got their ballot into the system, the one that works 

Flawlessly, monitored, one that does not have fraud, a system we rely on.

Yes, he raised his right arm and roared into the crowd that New York delivered,

Oh and so did Virginia and New Jersey, Georgia and Pennsylvania.  

Let the voters roar for prosperity for the people, for community and for love.

I want to believe that Love always wins in the end.