Sunday, May 10, 2020

Mom Loves To Scare Us


Mom Loves To Scare Us.

Denise scared me this morning.
As I ran up the stairs
She stood in wait
in the closet.


I jumped and then laughed 
And gave Denise a high five.
Denise is the mother our children.
Through her, my mother scared me this morning.


Our whole married life
We have copied this ritual
This hilarity my mother taught me:
Scare the bejeesus out of them
And then laugh.


My mom laughed when I fell.
She told me I did a great flip
Or she'd ask the table if I hurt it with my crash.
And then she'd laugh.


You don't need to suffer.
Look at the dog;
He bumps his head, shakes it off,
And continues to play.
And then she'd toss her head back and bark-laugh
Pretending to be a laughing dog.


She'd hide behind the couch,
Or the behind the curtain and wait
as we came in the door from school.
BOO! She'd jump out
And squelch our scream with her laughter.


When she wasn't laughing
She would listen to whomever
Or whatever was talking
She knew the plants could talk.


People told me what a good listener she was.
She was.
She listened with great interest
When I told her about my friends,
About what I did today.


She cried with me
When the police told me I couldn't
See my girlfriend
Because I looked like a Mexican


She stood beaming with pride
At the LA county Museum.
She giggled and pointed to my nude photo
Displayed on the Museum wall.
Take your clothes off so they know
It's you in the photo.


She had a magic side.
My mother knew somehow
When things were amiss,
Even 800 miles away.


She ran into the house
Her eyes pulling her to the phone.
George are you OK?
What? Florinda got hit by a bus, just now?”


How did she know those things?
I know those things now.
Although I don't know how,
But I know.


Our mom had a sneaky smile
That got my gut to vibrate,
Knowing she was up to something,
Always something to make us laugh.


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