Wandering Bark Mom was big on phases of development It meant she comprehended that A five year old would want to Fend off any suitor with the Viciousness of a piranha And that by ten he’d thank Her husband for a day at the Amusement park and take An ice cream cone with grace Fifteen was a stage that Emphasised the sneer and the Repudiation of a bourgeois household Hot and poisonous as Hell –as in I couldn’t wait to get the hell out So I could breathe Which is exactly what I did As soon as law allowed That too she understood at first Until all hell broke loose When I set sail for good She was mystified to rage By my meandering – Perhaps because she didn’t have a way To read the stars From where she docked Looking up The heavens may have seemed An icon of tranquillity Untouched by wind or wave But well I knew – And so did she – That every shining point, Circling or fixed, Concealed a fire ________________________________________________________________________ Emanuel E. García, Wandering Bark, 2013 |