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After Tempers Rise
There’s comfort in cottage cheese,
the seven o clock news,
in washing soiled clothes
Every now and then, pipes burst
blood spills out, soaks
floor, furniture, seeps into cracks,
places where lumps of dirtiness are lodged
We can’t help it. Yes, we’re adults,
experienced in therapy and self-help books,
we’ve passed all the exams in patience,
tolerance, understanding, compassion
And still it’s back again
blood freezes, pipes burst,
we break off icicles, wound each other
like spears, stilettos, scalpels,
watch, half fascinated, horrified
How our parents are beating us again
berating us, belittling, mocking, superior,
insulting. We know it’s our parents
because we’ve read the best books,
been to family therapists
Still despite all, the pipes burst again
we watch our carpets soak and sag,
lumps of dirt floating around, we can’t
help it, suddenly pipes burst
from carrying their load
Dismayed, we mop the mess as best
we can, as blood subsides,
take comfort in small things like
talking about cottage cheese, the news
Collect and wash our soiled clothes
© Johnmichael Simon
2009
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