They meet on the steps,
hair in place, followed by a warm embrace.
Commonplace laughter builds;
a stairwell of characters,
each sitting on a mark.
Standing in the doorframe,
I ask just one to join me.
But my voice is faint
as the night is short.
Tomorrow, perhaps, they will wake at my door.
Blouse ruffled, pigtails brushed,
mother’s buret behind her ear.
Alarm rings, coffee’s ready,
off to work before she hears.
Cereal’s dry, laces untied,
lunch box ready- that she did.
Bus arrives, snack bell rings,
a note’s found beneath the lid.
Maximize profit:
sell, sell, sell.
Strategy speaks :
tell, tell, tell.
Satan collects:
well, well, well.
Absence unnoticed:
yell, yell, yell.
Sunflowers shielded her from the tempting sea cliff,
but upon their winter leave,
she grew anxious.
Spring’s homecoming crowned the sea,
for he had stolen their princess.”