Monday, October 29, 2012

The Painting Speaks to You

The Painting Speaks to You

Thank you for coming
tonight to watch the kids,

there’s money for pizza
in the kitchen, bedtime

is 10:30, don’t let them
just wet their toothbrushes

to pretend they’ve brushed,
please watch them brush,

what else am I forgetting,
I want to make sure you

know everything you need
to so that you’re all safe

and happy, so that you
all grow up and feel at least

three versions of love.
I wish I didn’t have to

leave, but since I do, know
how much you mean to me,

and remember to wear gloves,
and go to the dentist, and say

thank you to your teachers and
be kind to those who are strange

or in pain, for once you were
or will be strange in a land

unfamiliar to you. There is
so much to say in limited

space, you’ll need to say
these things to your children

also, and to the sitters looking
after your children that you must

speak to about the children
they are caring for, tonight

or in fifty years or in
a thousand years.



3 comments

  1. This isn't the poem's main thought, which I like, but it's the major hook for me:

    feel at least

    three versions of love.
    I wish I didn’t have to

    ReplyDelete
  2. The "three versions" line really stood out for me, too.

    "there’s money for pizza
    in the kitchen"

    Such ubiquity, but also such a personal facet, well done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. a big fat kiss on this one. you brought me into it not knowing exactly where i needed to go and then you sent me on into my failure. there is no perfection. there is no information transferal (god, that sounds so sterile) complete enough.

    xo
    erin

    ReplyDelete

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