how to make a me

1

cue glinting erie lake ice fireworks rising east sun.

cue migrating geese, sparrows, blue jays, robins.

cue another day at the office with two poached eggs and coffee black. one cup with meal. one for firebird slushslushing down carnegie and huron and fairmount. meeting with youngstown clients. fill out time sheets. yellow legal tablets. phone rings. labor contracts at lordstown. dictating secretary letter. elevenpointsixthree hours.

2

at 32205 creekside drive in a suburb of cleveland in the state of ohio, joan fixes pork chops with lemon sauce. broccoli, buttered french bread, toasted mildly. tom arrives at 7:58 p.m. an old fashioned before dinner.

4

and on this march nine night tom and joan of pepper pike conceive their first, courtesy  of instruction manuals and fertility charts deconstructed from a dozen appointments at the clinic.

5

jumping in crib down and up and up boy-ing boy-ing in light blue footsie peejays springycribjumping boing boy-ing mom steps on the middle silver lever and the side bar drops. bends down. kiss on cheeks. night night time little tommy. teddy bear with black button eyes and music box heart. nite lite a lime green tv on far wall. her right hand through slats. blankie. forehead kiss. push lever. metal on metal clicks. locked.

cue downstairs dishes clanking into dishwasher.

cue second old fashioned.

6

up and down and up and down and up and boy-ing boy-ng in light blue footsie peejays. jump and jump and boy-ing boy-ing on squeaking mattress sighing up and down and boy-ing and left leg over top then right and grabsidetwistfalling over backgrab both hands and hold hard belly bounce into slats let go back falling twist tumble drop.

7

on knees.

up on feet.

run.