What I Did for Summer Vacation

WHAT I DID FOR SUMMER VACATION

I.

I could tell you that
the indifference didn’t hurt.
I could tell you that
rejection is something I can live with.
Screaming into a vacuum is
my idea of a good time.
Banging my head against the wall
is really quite Zen.
Pouring my heart out just to watch
you stomp through the puddles,
just doesn’t get any better than that.


II.

Opening wide,
fending off the tide
of a pain sickeningly sublime
Please,
could we just get along this time?

Surrounded in a room
By those with whom
we share genetics,
But not much else.

As we gather
avoiding the blather
tension thick as the lather
of the French-milled soap
we gave each other for Christmas.

This emotional masochist
just can’t get the gist
of this broken-family dynamic.


© Sandra Perry 2006