Swimming Pigs

Little One, so agile,
her undulating body propelling
her mouth so rapidly
towards downwardly drifting
fish food flakes;
they disappear into
her petite mouth
before Big Dumb Boy even
realizes that dinner has
begun.

Being Catholic at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

Priest at local
parish doesn’t approve
of two mothers in one family,
announcing the expulsion of
little girl from pre-school
for next year,
citing morality,
the teaching of the Church Leadership,
those ranks of old, grey-haired men
who list towards
Vatican in obedient
chorus.

Shoes that Kick Ass

whenever I wear these shoes,
heavily scuffed Ariats for
walking, riding, kicking ass,
I think of you with your little
twiggy legs in high heels;
you wear them to look more
professional, taller, that is.
I know when you walk out
of your cozy office, you put on your
Ariat boots, stride purposefully
towards your goal and
kick ass.

Fixing Your Glasses when You Can't See

The arm fell of my reading glasses;
I heard the ping of the screw falling
onto the table, but I could not see
it since my glasses fell off my nose.
I felt around on the table with my
hand, gently, until I found it.
For ten minutes, I searched in the
junk drawer for that tiny kit for fixing
glasses that I bought for this very occasion.
The box opened abruptly and the tiny
screwdriver and all the screws flew all
over the kitchen; I found the screwdriver
and I still had the original screw.
I remembered wondering what was wrong
with my mother when she squinted at stuff
when I was growing up; I found myself
doing the same thing, with similar results.
After valiant, but unsuccessful attempts at
repair, I used a paper clip to attach the
arm to the body of the glasses, stuck
them back on my nose.
Once I could see again, I gathered all
the little screws, reassembled the repair
kit and stashed it away for the next time,
knowing full well it would be as useful
next time as it was tonight.

Adventures with Goldfish III: Arnie

he’s just a feeder fish,
the shopkeeper said matter-of-factly,
adding,
if he dies, it’s probably not your fault.
he handed me the clear plastic bag
holding a big white goldfish
with orange spots.
name him Arnie, for
Arnold Schwarzenegger, S. said,
that way he’ll know he has to
be tough and not just keel over
for no good reason.
Arnie didn’t look so great for
the first hour or two, but is
looking better now.
Maybe he will be alive in
the morning.

Dead as a Doornail II

this morning, there was
only one goldfish
swimming frantically
against the glass vying
for my attention.
Yet I didn’t see
a telltale floating goldfish, no one
tangled in the plastic plant
or sucked half way up the pump.
My trusty red spatula stirred
him from under the rock
and his poor little corpse
floated languidly
to the surface where he
moved in the circular current,
just as he did
a moment later when
he disappeared with a
single flush.

Big Man Dan

he’s an immovable object
that talks (at you); impenetrable
to externally generated sound
waves, generally known as speech.
he nods his slightly graying head
(presumably at you), his jowls
wagging as if scolding you for
wasting his time, for not having
done your assigned homework.
your attention is momentarily
diverted at how this massive
man is supported on such
a spindly office chair, or where
he finds a large enough suit
to cover his body and to house
his ego.