Today, you fell face first into the open dishwasher
One plastic prong bruised your nose
Another gave you your first black eye
I rushed to cradle you
And sing your falling down song
Then I took you outside to show you
The birds, the lizards
The cloudless blue sky
And the moon, your moon, visible today at noon
The moon made you calm
Luna, luna you said
And pointed up
At the cloudless blue sky
I sat you down close to me
Ready to hold you
If you still needed my arms
But you looked at the white powder moon
At a lizard that dashed from the bush
And at crests of neat waves rising in the pool
After a moment, you sighed
Your first veteran sigh
Just yesterday
I checked the classifieds
For work I might be paid to do
I do this sometimes
To confirm I remain hireable
And am more than this lullaby mother
Who sits with her child
To be soothed by the moon
—
The Potomac Journal’s summer issue is finally out, and two of my poems are in it! Above is the first. The second will be featured here shortly.
