I don’t do this often, but April is National Poetry Month. So, I’m sharing a poem with you guys on this blog! Yay!
The nexus of this is that I came home last night and saw my neighbor bringing his wife flowers. It was the cutest scene ever! I was inspired. And so, I wrote this.
Cherry Blossoms
I always see her with bookbags and lunch bags and sippy cups and peewee football helmets
She has 3 boys
We pull into driveways that are mirror images
Me carrying a laptop and some poetry CDs
She helping little people in and out of booster seats
They look like pictures of their father at ages 2, 4, and 6
Her genes had nothing to do with any of it
Three handfuls of jubilence and mom only has 2 hands
But she juggles well
Keeps everything moving constant and fluid
And every few days
We pull into our identical driveways and wave
But today, I finally saw her
No little people latched onto her ankles
Today, he brought her flowers
She put on a dress
He rung the doorbell
When she answered the door for her date, she was giving him legs
She was excited
Wore the pretty shoes instead of the comfortable ones
He pulled flowers from behind his back
The cherry blossoms came just in time for the romance
The babysitter’s camera captured the scene
They took the BMW instead of the minivan
She was floating
It’s like I never noticed she was a woman until now
Now, I will remember
And I hope he always remembers
That when he brings her flowers, she smiles
She poses
She laughs
She touches him
And he smiles
And he holds her
And he looks at her
… Different
When no one is calling her Mommy things are different
Slower
This episode is joyous
They relax and enjoy this short moment
So ardent that I feel it with them
I hope their night is perfect
I hope they stay out late and the kids don’t wake up when they sneak home
I hope these nights happen more
The next time I see her with a lunchbag or a bookbag or a peewee football helmet
I will remember that this was a woman so amazing that he decided he could never live without her
A girl he courted because she was more valuable than any bachelor’s bragging rights
A beauty he once asked out with nervous anticipation and prayed that he would be so lucky for her to say yes
She said yes
And I hope he remembers
Because now I understand how easy it is to forget
and I really hope their night is perfect