Tidal Movements and How I Continue to Fail at Parenting
I've always said, with not much authority on the subject, that good poetry is poetry that makes me stop what I'm doing and write. Good poetry is action poetry. It changes something, digs up memory, gets us to act.
That said, I'm currently reading some good poetry for the literary journal Collateral (set to launch this fall!) and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, both of which have attracted some dynamite writing. The good news is, I keep stopping what I'm doing to write!
The bad news is, my to-do list. It's stupid, guys. Like really long. And it ain't getting shorter. So... THANKS A LOT, POETS OF THE WORLD.
Here's a poem I wrote on Sunday (I think?), in honor of Mae, her fascination with the moon, and all the ways grown ups overthink life's questions.
That said, I'm currently reading some good poetry for the literary journal Collateral (set to launch this fall!) and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, both of which have attracted some dynamite writing. The good news is, I keep stopping what I'm doing to write!
The bad news is, my to-do list. It's stupid, guys. Like really long. And it ain't getting shorter. So... THANKS A LOT, POETS OF THE WORLD.
Here's a poem I wrote on Sunday (I think?), in honor of Mae, her fascination with the moon, and all the ways grown ups overthink life's questions.
Tidal
Movements and How I Continue to Fail at Parenting
Mae presses
her hands
against the
screen door
like a beggar
outside
a bakery
window
fingers
spread wide
like I’ve
asked her not to do
twenty times
this week
and says Mom look up there
I can see the moon
and some pink clouds
which one do you like better
and I say what do you mean
and she says the moon
or the clouds
which one is better
and I say we need both
then unfurl
the flag of reason
there are
tidal movements
to consider
and irrigation
and honeybees
and miles
and miles of
corn
and poetry
what about
poetry
and the word
cumulonimbus
without the
moon
the oceans
would stagnate
and did you
know
a simple Google
search
asking what would
happen
if there was
no moon
yields
9,880,000 results
in .41 seconds
and that
means people
who know more
than us
about hurricanes
and gravity
have asked
this question before
and without
the moon
there’d be no
clouds
and without
clouds
we’d have
nothing
to hide the
earth when we flew
from here to
New York
and this is why
we need the
clouds and moon
and this is
why
we can’t
choose
one over the
other
and Mae says
yes yes
as if to
agree
and I am so
smug
I wait a
whole week
to tell her I
lied
and the moon is
better
I’d choose
the moon
over a smelly
cloud any day
and she hasn’t
pushed her weight
into the sagging
screen once
and she looks
at me
the way
children look
at adults who
can’t
make up their
minds
*
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