Line from: I Don’t Think for a Second That We Won’t Survive This — Abdul Ali

*

*

how did I do this

fifty years ago?

siblings battling in the back seat

put your shoes on

I can smell your feet

you take the dog out

I already picked up the poop

finish one meal, clean up, start another

how did I manage as a single mother

working full days

rushing home to drive to rehearsals, shows

crashing into bed, dazed, glazed

fevers, stomach flu, stitches, broken nose

*

Summer brings it all again

only I’m the grandma now

slow, deaf, a used-up cow

ask your mother, would she allow?

forgot the car seat, the gluten-free turkey,

the towels, the laundry, the car key

It’s much more fun

than it used to be.