Minnows

Little things can evoke such vibrant memories. 

One morning, I had to empty the ice bin into the sink.  As the cubes melted, they reminded me of minnows... the small, silvery ones that we used to catch on the Chesapeake Bay when I was little. 

We used to take stale bread down to my grandfather's dock and put it into a wire minnow net - basically 2 pieces of large bore screening sewn together.  There we would slowly let the net into the water, watching the minnows swim up to the bread.  When there were about 25 fish inside, we would pull up the net and watch the minows wiggle and jump around in the net.   We did this time after time until we had enough minnows for Dad and Pappap to fish with.

All of those years ago - I never thought once about what happened to the minnows, or the fact that they were going to be bait.  It was just part of the life cycle of a fishing community.  You fish, you eat.  There was no catch and release back then... we needed all of the food we could get to  feed the large family that gathered at my granmother's table. Homemade veggies, pull-cakes, and the freshest fish you could ever hope for.  Life was good.

Recession

I saw an old woman
With white helmet hair and skinny polyester slacks
Get out of a Buick at the local pawn shop
She looked pinched or sad or somehow helpless.

Across town, hundreds of cars were parked at the mall

Recession?  Ain’t no recession
Not as long as I got credit cards.

I can buy a puffy jacket and skinny jeans
Tease my hair up in some sort of helmet shape
Paint my face
To show that sort of
pinched or sad or somehow helpless look…

You know, like those models on TV.

~

DAY TWO

(For Susan)

It’s easier to start here

Day one was a blur of
Anger and depression
You screamed at the dishes
And cursed the grass
Just for growing.
It was exhausting.
 
On day two, reality sets in.
The house echoes with
Every loving word ever spoken-
With the last fight you had
The silence pounds at you
You get a headache
(the hangover doesn’t help}
You cry yourself to sleep again.
 
Day three, time for work
You can’t face it, so you go back to bed
with the latest designer drug and an extra blanket
This could be your life
Avoidance, pain, regret
It would be so easy – no responsibility

Maybe if he sees how sad
How pathetic
How lonely you are,
He’ll come back.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

~