What You Need to Know

Enough about me…
Or have I not yet said much? Hmm. Well there are the basics minus the creepy cyber-stalker clues. I am married and at last bed check counted two children, one boy- age 5ish, one girl- age 3ish. I live in a suburb of Boston that I can probably never afford to buy into but refuse to leave. Renting well maintained first floor apartments in two family homes in a town with good school districts and not having to pay taxes for the plowing, library or the aforementioned good schools works out well enough for me. I do wish the recycling system wasn’t so backwards though. I can rant on that another time. I know- you must be counting the days until that gem of an entry makes its way out!
I grew up in what most people consider a rural town in Maine but the town is definitively not rural. There weren’t sidewalks except for in front of Town Hall; there was only one blinking traffic light, 53 miles of road and a handful of working farms. BUT we were/are not rural. I don’t know quite how to justify that fact but we weren’t and still aren’t. I don’t think. I’ll ask around just in case this is some form of brainwashing delivered by my family or the school system. Mainers are known for being a bit wily.
I have lived in or around Boston since 1995, save for a 2 year stint in Washington, D.C. where I once had my life saved by a squirrel. I have been married for about 9 years and don’t plan on turning the model I got in for a refund any time soon. I like him plenty and he understands why there are certain things that I just HAVE to be the boss of. And he lets me drive a lot and always takes the crappier car to his job (his job by the way makes me super proud of him…gee golly but its true- check out Facing History and Ourselves).
I come from a good sized family, 4 sisters, divorced parents. We are wholly dysfunctional according to any documented source but somehow we manage to function a fair amount of the time which makes me question what “they” mean by dysfunctional.
I have some friends. They are mostly lovely. I used to work in the world where people got paychecks but stay home now. I do have my own craft business from which I am on “leave” and have been for about 2 years. I’m thinking about getting back though.
We’ll see what else I disclose as all this progresses.
Enough about me…

Paper Boxes

My rainy day garb
has brought me
up from my down

No money in the bank
red hair when I
need to be blond

Nobody's here but me
and my broken down smile
an excuse to leave not soon enough

I'm trying to be better
bolder and wiser
fighting a coward in warrior's armor

Never enough 'til the rain
starts to fall my joints
start to swell and I sink in

I'm deep into my mood
this funk that pulls me out
into summer and somewhere

Words on the pages
like chocolate in a mug
sweet mother's winter relief

I'll pack my books and
then my thoughts
all in one plain paper box

I'll store the blues away
behind the thunder and clouds
step into my boots and walk

Unfettered by time or family
constraints my eyes start to
open and I am awake

Feel me know the power of a
storm as it rises
discover me in the puddles

Oily reflections and a cab's
passing waves
distinguish my greys from yours

The sun sneaks out to gawk
at my varying fabrics
and my grin pulls away*

The date on this is probably around 1997, 1998 somewhere around Boston. I publish it here not for proof of worth or talent- that is not something I want judged by a piece written a decade ago. I just realized that I wanted to include it because it took me so damn long to come up with a silly little name for this here blog that I felt it only right to give the piece the credit. So voila. And yes- I know "grey" is not the way Americans spell the word but my dad is an anglophile above anglophiles and I like to tip my hat to the folks across the pond when I can. Always have- always will. And don't worry- I have no expectation of this blog becoming my personal poetry slam so keep breathing. I think I have a thing or two to say about a thing or two.