not obedient just independent alone
self-contained entertained unrestrained
stacking rocks, riding bikes, building forts, lighting fires
kicking pine cones, licking ice-cream cones
slurping Slurpees until the brain freeze
pinball, bubblegum, penny candy, pump cheese
the babysitter smells weird smoking cigarettes
watching soap operas Monday through Friday
her macaroni tastes funny
her tuna sandwiches aren’t as good as mom’s
potato salad, dill pickles, baked beans, hot dogs
the dog is so hot he’s not moving, panting
ice cubes melting in his water bowl
garden hose spewing plasticky bathwater warm
the lawn yellowing drying dying
crunching prickly on tenderfeet
they’ll toughen up by Labor day then it’s
back to shoes and socks and school
"Pump Cheese" circa 2008
nine years later and/or 39 years later that back-to-school feeling in the pit of my stomach has a little different meaning
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