Several hours spent with the baby girl,
three of those hours she spent sleeping.
A growth spurt has her needing more
rest and ravenous when she wakes up.
She didn’t want to go for a walk in
the stroller so I parked it by the
pond–the one where the fish
immediately show up in the
shallows, hoping for a tossed snack
and I held her on my lap.
She quieted as I pointed out
the turtles’ heads poking up out of
the water, watching us, they too
hoping for a tasty handout.
Look how the lily pads lay so flat
on the surface of the water. Look,
there’s the hawk being chased by
an angry blue jay. Hear the bamboo
clanking quietly (the wind is low today).
Smell the delicate fragrance wafting
from the colorful bed of petunias.
Feel my arms around you, my heart
matching beats with yours.
Home, I fix leftovers from the night
before for my late lunch, Taco Soup
and homemade corn bread and a small
side of cranberry, orange relish–my
mother’s recipe made during holidays.
Turning on the television, I see a “Special
Report”, they’re talking about a shooting
and I think briefly that it’s an update on
the recent mall shootings. But no, I learn
of a more current lethal and senseless act of
yet another taking of multiple, innocent lives
that happened while I was babysitting
my own precious, innocent life.
I sob as I listen to our President offer
his condolences to more grieving citizens.
I cry for the parents who don’t have
another day with their children.
What will it take to bring a halt to these acts?
What the hell are we waiting for?
My tears change to outrage.
Brian Miller hosts today at dVerse Poets asking us to try our hands at “the small stuff”…paying attention to details: http://dversepoets.com/2012/12/15/poetics-sweat-the-small-stuff/