Birthday balloons
tied with a note
introducing us to a stranger
telling whosoever finds this paper
our name and newly turned age

“Oh you out there,
this is an experiment here
if you come across this
birthday letter, tell me
who you are and where you found it

then mail it posthaste.
I thank you sir”
We stood in the field
down the street
and gently let them go

watching with wonder as
they turned into a colorful dot
against the sky traveling
to lands unknown
Weeks later we
got a letter back

A farmer found them
bedraggled and deflated
in his field as he
came out to work
probably somewhere in Idaho

He gave us his name
and a happy birthday wish
it was so exciting
to my child eyes
and we did it every year

So if you find this poem
oh you out there
“Please tell me your name
and let me know
from where it came

I send this out
to lands unknown
floating over rivers
and gulleys of words
for the child in me
who just wants to see
where this balloon
poem will go”

I don’t know what to do
in stores like Home Depot and Menards
Walking around aisles with a
studious expression, hoping to high heaven
I don’t have to approach a salesman
(Yes, may I please get one…nuts and bolts?)

What am I, an adult?
I’m a child who’s been
alive for thirty one years
I don’t know anything
about Thingamagigs
and Whatchamacallits

This silver bolt thing
connects to where?
Is it important?
Who will install it for me?
The room will surely explode
if I do it myself

Sparkling appliances
snug in boxes looking like
they know what they’re used for
Chrome light fixtures
and sparkplugs that dazzle my eye

and flatline my brain
I’m not adult enough for this
left without supervision
in handyman’s land
I literally crawl through the woodwork

(Balsam wood, cherry wood,
Look at me reading the labels!
Maybe I’ll build a shed!)
To think I was enamored
by the prospect of home ownership

You opened your mouth
and the vitriol spewed forth
Poison puddles sizzling
on the polished floor at my feet

You told me you’d never
do it again, that
you adored me
I’m pretty but
would be gorgeous
if I dyed my hair maybe

You told me that
you got held up
at work again
and that I worried too much

“I’m at work”
“Everything’s fine”
“I’ll make it up to you”
“Of course, honey”
“I love you”

Each lie
a drop of lemon juice
in the shallow paper cuts
from your tongue

and the comfort
of your smile
became a knife slice

Those mounds of dirt you see
on the side of the road
they hatch Dollar Generals
Brick and mortar emerge fully formed
from the shell of the mud and gravel
Detergent and oreos
coexisting on the same shelf
that spawned overnight
A new place to shop on every corner
with a sense of deja vu

The tv’s on the fritz again
static snow
no channels coming in
For entertainment I thought
I’d knit for a while
but gave up when I
fumbled the needles
and tangled the yarn

The tv’s on the fritz again
a grim reality
So I decided to
put together a puzzle
The picture on the box
showed an underwater scene
I got halfway there
when I realized it was
missing a middle piece
so I threw the whole puzzle in the air

Snuck a glance to the side
was incensed to find
that static snow
still coming down
The screen looked ***** gray
the crackle grating
against my ears
Pure aggravation
shouting, distorted
through the living room

I’m sure there’s a
show on that I might like
or a movie that I’ve never seen
With an exasperated scream
I lean in to the chokehold
electronics have on me
and frantically plug
and unplug the tv