I am going to attempt to write 10 poems this month. Songwriter. Not a poet. First try.
We Used to Play House
April 2, 2013
We used to play house
Borrowing characters from our mothers’ soap operas
Taking notes on snow days and summer breaks
You were the woman who was cyclically recalled to life
Miraculously after each tragic death
In the name of a lover torn between two (or three) others
I enacted drama with any willing boy
Accepting of his role in exchange for a kiss
In the day’s recess under the armor of the tall kids
Camouflaging our lips so Mrs. Kauffman would not spy our deed
We used to play house
Picking names for our future children
Drinking your father’s Yuengling after he went to bed
Drawing our portraits in with each stoned breath
We used to play house
Making havens of our dorm rooms
Reminiscing memories as fresh as our independence
Cradling morals made inherent by our grandmothers
We play house
Wearing our parents’ shadows
Passing genes
Embracing each other’s offspring
Sending greeting cards from foreign addresses
Retreating to our soap opera notes
Making vows with strangers
Filling basements of boxes
With all that we used when
We used to play house