Finally, Then
After dinner is over, dishes clean,
their porcelain lips stacked in smiles
behind the cupboard door.
After your desk is organized,
emails sent, final draft finished,
your to-do list a flock of check marks,
migratory birds flapping
down the column and out
to the horizon of a light-suffused land
called Everything is Done.
Finally, you can do whatever it is
you say you’ve always wanted to do.
Or not said, because naming can sometimes
dilute a dream’s dark essence.
But there’s bank overdraft to fix,
unread library books to return,
another doctor’s appointment,
and these days when you accelerate,
your car makes a screaming noise
like a small trapped animal.
You can picture its curled body
and dark eyes, terrified your speed
will toss it onto the moving parts
of a machine made only to go.
Maybe, after you get it fixed,
clear up a few other things,
finally, then, you’ll have time.
Laura Grace Weldon
Originally published by Great Lakes Review. Find more poetry in my collection, Tending.
Laura Grace Weldon 
Love his. Porcelain lips. Your car making “a screaming noise like a small trapped animal.” So glad you found the time.
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Great imagery here. This is so true for mamas, a never ending list. Even now with an empty nest.
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You really have a way with words…and the heart…
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Raw and beautiful
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I read this poem the other day while on a mission to find blogs of fellow fiction writers. Imagine my alarm when just moments ago the line “porcelain lips stacked in smiles” drifted into my thoughts and I thought “I didn’t comment, I didn’t like the post. What if I can’t find it again?”
Lesson learned. If you are fortunate enough to cross a blog that’s not specifically about what you think you should be searching for at that moment, never walk away from beautiful language.
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Thank you Mandie! Interestingly I never blog about writing fiction, but I teach writing classes including those on fiction writing. Just finished a day-long workshop on flash fiction with a group of wonderful writers!
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You’re welcome. I love flash fiction (and obviously poetry). I love the economy of words, and everything that can be hinted at, but never said.
I bet there were some great pieces that came out of your workshop.
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Love it! Happy springtime, Laura!
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Yes.
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