sun-stained heavens, growing dim
close your eyes and think of him
drifting autumn, wind-chilled pine
drink your tears with merlot wine
sappy tree hearts, maple leaves
reach for fading memories
smoky wood chips, apple cheeks
bury your nose in pumpkin peaks
swaying branches, cedar roots
shiver once then strap your boots
dusky hopes, burnt orange skies
nothing remembered ever dies

MOTHER:
Could you take out the trash?


DAUGHTER:
I will in like, five or ten minutes, I'm finishing an email to a friend.


MOTHER:
I'd rather you do it now. I'm in desperate need to feel like there's control and order in my life since these sudden feelings or powerlessness within my own life have surfaced again.


DAUGHTER:
This seems to be a regular occurrence with you Mom.
Why not consider therapy?


MOTHER:
I'd rather make up another excuse instead of  admitting you might be on to something because of two reasons. The first being that I resent the fact someone younger than me, which is code for someone who I perceive doesn't have much life experience, is suggesting something about my life. The second and much more important is that I'm a coward that would rather hide from my fears than face them.


DAUGHTER:
It's frustrating to me because I perceive there are easy solutions to these obstacles but you'd rather wallow in your suffering. Sometimes I think you'd be happier with a gun in your mouth
if you weren't so petrified of death. Hi Dad.


FATHER:
I'm ignoring everything. Making a b-line toward my office where I can drown my sorrows in cheap whisky and work
because of my cancerous self-loathing in perception
for not living up to an outdated model of achievement
as set for by my parents and their parents.


MOTHER:
It fills my heart with a melancholic rage because you're not letting me lean on you to feel better about my own self esteem issues
since I rely on everyone else to build up my confidence.  


DAUGHTER:
This touches my raw nerve heartstrings because I used to have self-confidence issues that I never felt comfortable sharing with anyone until after therapy and years of meditation.
Now I feel partially responsible in a slightly self-righteous way
that I should try and help both of you even though you two don't seem to want to help yourselves.


FATHER:
I'm much too busy dwelling on the past.


MOTHER:
I resent that and don't understand why you're not anxiously brooding on the future like me.


DAUGHTER:*
I'm going to take the trash out because I feel obligated to do so even though I'd rather finish my email. I will resent this for a few hours until I calm down into a pool of serenity thanks to my meditation practice. I'm also taking the trash out because extended conflict makes me uneasy and I'd rather compromise my own individuality and boundaries to make all of this end even though I realize this is perpetuating these cycles of conflict.

Makes no sense to Me
Throwing Themselves
into Crowds
Crazy "BLACK FRIDAY"

How could this Happen?
Black Friday is now Thurday
Goodbye Thanksgiving

Black Friday is Here
Scariest Day of the Year
You Could be Trampled**

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Copyright © 2014 Christi Michaels.
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