Quadruplets
Every
mama armadillo
bears
identical quadruplets
who
recall the four quadrants
of
the Earth
the
South and West from whence she came
the
North and East
to
which she travels
Where
she’s going
where
her quadruplets are going
she
doesn’t know
No
one knows
but
they push on
they
make their steadfast way
going
where God wants them to go
God’s
beloved “turtle rabbits”
as
the Aztecs called them
They
keep their heads down
watch
for predators
coyotes
bobcats raccoons
Their
shells are not always perfect protection
They
keep their heads down
They
cultivate humility
They
move north
They
move east
The
children grow
and
every female armadillo bears
identical
quadruplets
who
recall
the
four quadrants of the Earth
Cursive
It
was taught in third grade in my old school
but
in second in my new
so
I missed Cursive
and
my teacher curled her lip at me
when
I told her
and
asked for help
She
thought I was scum
a
homeless kid
mom
probably a crack head
dad
a deadbeat
missing
in action
He
was missing in action
but
in Afghanistan
In
my imagination he was tunneling out of a cave
like
a red earthworm through dirt
persistent,
tireless
digging
from one continent to another
digging
his way to me
one
day to emerge in sunshine
head
first
like
an infant
but
without the squalling
with
a big smile
See…
I made it
The
teacher still wouldn’t teach me Cursive
so
I made up my own curves
modeled
after the curly hair
of
the dark-haired girl who sat in front of me
The
teacher grabbed the paper from my desk
showed
it around to everyone
and
they all laughed
laughed
at the kid with the holes in his tennis shoes
everyone
except the dark-haired girl
She
recognized herself in my
home-made
Cursive
She
saw her reflection
and
it was the only validation
she
had received
for
as long as she could remember
She
had her own story
as
I found out later
Mitchell
Krochmalnik Grabois’ poems have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines in
the U.S. and abroad. He is a regular contributor to The Prague Revue, and
has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, most recently for his story
“Purple Heart” published in The Examined Life in 2012, and for his poem.
“Birds,” published in The Blue Hour, 2013. His novel, Two-Headed
Dog, based on his work as a clinical psychologist in a state hospital, is
available for 99 cents from Kindle and Nook, or as a print edition.
"Cursive"......This is just excellent.
ReplyDelete