I Stopped By Their Headstones Again

Today I stopped by their headstones again,

Down a ways from where new mourners kneel

Beside baskets of lilies, roses, creeping thyme

And, of course, the dark hole, always a shock,
Wide against the mound of fresh dirt and mulch.
The small places that will take us all back.

What lies beneath this wormy grass is not them,

Not the buffed beings with clear coated nails
we still know well from the pictures: 
The handsome sun lovers in uniform, the newly
Baptized and Confirmed, women in see-through gowns,
Holding babies or kittens, waving from new cars,
All these life-loving toiling hearts, unprepared.

All that’s left of them now lays here underfoot--

Rows of ripened bodies, rubble, skulls, trinkets, 
Dried flesh, tangled hair, hooked nails, wax--before

They were caught in one of their usual hangouts

At their designated hour, to be hollowed out one day

Like so many small Pompeii’s or even scooped up
By incandescent beings into an uncommon world.

Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.

I Was Weary, You Understand

I know you must be crumbling 

like a day-old pan dulce.

After all, this is your mother you’re looking at

Painted and powdered like an old diva 

In a jeweled music box.

You must be shocked looking down on

My hands, laced with black beads

Which you know I recited over and over

All through my last days.

Afraid, yes, I was, but you know, son,
There wasn't much else I could do.

I could not care for my orchids

Nor even my own hair. 

It’s impossible to look your best

When you can’t stand up

By yourself.

And honestly it shocked me

To see your hair so white. 

And you know I complained

The room always seemed too bright.

I was so weary, you understand.

Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.

On the Way to the Game

Dominic and his friend sit side by side
in the back of my van.

In a surge of elation he shrieks,
leans over the seat and 
nibbles on his friend's ear

as he's done often
since they were 3.

Now they're 11.  

Now his friend jerks free.
Yuuuuuuuuuuuck! 

Why do you do that?

My son's smile does a flip.

Because I love you, ya big idiot!

They turn to their windows, one left, the other right.
Only I see their smiles in the glass.

The boys too busy reliving what they just nearly lost:

A little more time on this well-marked road to the game.  

How to become the person you want to be

Dominic

When he was 12 and changed

schools, my son decided 

to change his image, too,

from class clown to

something more strapping.

Surprized he knew how

at such a tender age,

to make such a bold transition

I asked for his formula.

Here's what he said:

Mom, it's easy.

First decide who you want to be.

Then start acting like that person.

People will treat you like that person.

Then you will be that person.


Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.

Who's The Best?

Dominic now 20

When my son was 8 I asked:

Who's the best soccer player in

your school?

His answer: Steven Miller!

Who's the best baseball player?

Steven Miller!

Well, who's the best joke teller?

Steven Miller!

And the best singer?

Steven Miller!

Finally, I sighed.

Honey, surely you're the best

at something.

I am!

I'm Steven Miller's best friend!


Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.

Time Flies

He tied big birds and bucks 

to the roof of our station wagon.

Left catfish gasping in the kitchen sink

And fired up the grill.

Jammed our garage with firearms, golf clubs

fishing poles, bowling balls.

Grew sunflowers taller than the house.

Bred a hunting dog in the back.

Built a brewery in the basement.

Soldiered in Europe and Korea

Kept his medals polished in a drawer

And nine to fived every day.

Don't waste time, daddy warned

as I swung in my swing, wasting time.

It's all gonna be over before you know it.

Before you know it doesn't begin to describe

The way time took flight 

like a falcon’s hunting dive,

As I swung in that swing, smiling

Daddy’s just trying to scare me.  

Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.

The Morning After Sue Died

Judging from their calm repose

these roses on my deck 

have yet to learn the crushing news 

that Sue is gone.

And to my deepening dismay,
the sun shines just as bright today 

as yesterday,
not knowing, I suppose,
that Sue, our beloved Sue,
passed on last night.

And woe, these palm trees sway 

as gently as they did before,
as if nothing’s changed at all
though Sue, lovely Sue,
took her last breath that day. 

But to her friends--sisters--
(Sue made us all feel kindred), 

her sudden most hated death last night 

split our world in two: 

those kinder Yesterdays
when there was Sue 

and these harsh Todays
when there is not.


Sue died September 20, 2011


Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.