THE CHILDREN'S SUITE

THE CHILDREN'S SUITE

Fanny did all that work

after she missed with the prince

and later, her husband said,

Good enough, Fanny, Good enough.

What makes a dream a dream?

Doesn't the empirical world

make us also dizzy!

Sitting up, saying to myself,

You're not sleeping!

You're not looking around!

Saying to that longing other

I won't go on until we connect.

How were you rewarded for your silence?

2. Puzzle pieces of cups and saucers rattle

in my hands,

amid all the questions of sadness

influencing how we think of ourselves.

Whose voice matters more?

Tell me what you're working through

Schools are more segregated

than they were when we were growing up

Tell me about you

There we were in a truck

full of green things

The missing piece

is my favorite because

this is the book

my first child fell in love with

We were moving directly

into the path of trouble--

wind itself was picking up signals

from last syllables

coming from our mouths.

Jim Bodeen

24-26 May 2017