Word Spiral

AIRING THE LAUNDRY

Fingers caught in the wringer washer
Flattened, crunched
How will she make the piano sing again?
I want to help her, though I am so small,
and have no power.
For years her words were a wringer washer,
tearing the flesh
from my heart,
rolling over my
dreams.

DISSED AGAIN

I feel
Dismissed
Disowned
Dismembered
Disliked
Displaced
Disapproved
Disrespected
Disturbed
Dislocated
Dissolved.
Distraught
Distorted.
When distain is her middle name.

ON GOOD DAYS SHE SINGS

On good days she sings -
standing at the kitchen sink
stirring pots on the stove
rolling dough into loaves.

We open the front door
tentatively after school.

Is there music in the air?

Or has he made her cry again?

LIFE OF THE PARTY

She’s the fizz in the
punch, the crackling
music on the hi fi, the ribbon
around the parcel, the punch
line in the joke, the
laughter in the
corner, the colours of
the evening sky, the
hors d’œuvre table of
possibilities.

BEST FRIENDS

The dog.
The library books.
The dog.
The post man.
The dog.
The walk in the woods.
The dog in the woods.
The neighbour.
The neighbour’s dog.
The long distance phone call.
The dog.
The exercise buddy.
The dog.
The garden.
The dog in the garden.
Not me.
Not me.
Never me.