Noun in Location PAD 5-2

 A Weekend in the Woods

 

I was about to leave for the summer,

spending it in Cheyenne with my Sis.

My friend and I spent the weekend

with my neighbor who rented

a cabin in the woods.

We hiked, talked, took a walk

in the pitch-black forest.

Had a lot of fun.

It was odd that I spent my last weekend with him

and not my boyfriend, but that’s how it worked out.

Then I went off to Cheyenne and met my husband to be.

It’s strange how things happened,

but I trust that as I made my plans

God directed my steps.

Noun in Location PAD 5-1

 A Duck Foot in My Mailbox

 

I introduced my college roommate

to the guy I grew up with.

They hit it off and we’d all write

back and forth to each other.

Once there was a small envelope

within the larger envelope

addressed to C., meaning me,

but Eileen though it was addressed to Ei.

So she opened it, promptly screamed,

threw it down the hallway

and fell on the floor in shock.

It was a duck’s foot.

I wrote back requesting,

no more animal parts, please.

Reality or Dream PAD 4-3

 

The Things You Learn from Your Neighbors

 

I grew up in a non-drinking household.

Or so I thought.

When I was about twelve,

the boy next door told me my dad used to drink.

I never knew that.

I learned later that Dad not only drank

but all the way up till I was a toddler

and had given me a drink of beer and I liked it.

That was my last taste of alcohol

because I decided early on not to drink.

It seemed foreign to me that my sisters

remembered my dad drinking alcohol

and I didn’t know till my neighbor told me.

Reality or Dream PAD 4-2

 Reality

 

When I was nine, I aimed to be a boy.

My hair was short, a simple pixie cut.

I sought some lessons from my neighbor, Roy.

He was inclined to help and teach, somewhat.

 

He said that I should make my hair a mess.

And I should like to run and play in dirt.

And, Heaven’s sake! I shouldn't wear a dress!

And learning to play baseball wouldn’t hurt.

 

We had a hidden fort and had some fun.

We caught some frogs and toads and things like that.

My interest in boys grew, but not to be one.

That phase was laid so squarely in the past.

 

I’m glad, back then, they valued what was real.

For now, they dare to live by what they feel.

Dream or Reality PAD 4-1

 

Am I Chocolate Pie?

 

I dreamed a friend and I sang in a choir

On the front row I saw a microphone

And so I would not sing

She kept on but was deaf in tone

Director emailed and said I won’t lie

That I was darkness and a piece of pie

I was completely thrown

But my alarm went off, no more would I acquire

Connection PAD 3-3

 Connecting Factor

 

After my high school graduation,

my boyfriend told me

that a woman who sat nearby him

was going on about how cute I was.

 

Later the boy next door told me

my friends’ mom, who thought

he and I should get together,

was saying those things to tease him.

 

Ah, so that’s what that was about.

I didn’t tell my boyfriend.

Let him think I had a fan.

Connection PAD 3-2

Rough Childhood

 

At our family reunion

I overheard him talking

“Had a bad childhood.”

 

Two sisters, five neighbor girls

And three more across the creek

Yes, he had it rough

 

However, as I recall

As we grew a bit older

He didn’t mind much

 

He looked and saw me listening

Our eyes met and we chuckled

It wasn’t so bad