Hi Karen
It is great to see you here again - your poetry never disappoints!
I love this one from start to finish.To Rena, with her unseen tentacles
that slithered up too closely to my Dad.
You were an ugly version of my Mother,
a shadowy receptionist who had
I like the fact that 'she' is named from the start here. The tentacles and slithered were beautifully misleading!
I too stumbled a bit on the meter in L2 - easily fixed, perhaps
that slithered much too closely to my Dad
'much' has just a little more stress than 'up'proclaimed herself,
not looking for a man.
I worked beside you every summer— my
girlish instincts screamed a shrill alert.
Your Christmas gift
to us was mounted high
above the mantle. Mom pretended that
she liked the water scene—but then forgot
to pack it when the house was sold. She knew
Dad's drawers were full of clothes she hadn't bought,
but washed away the hurtful thought. For years
she lulled unanswered questions into slumber,
I love this line!allaying past suspicions—unlike me
who checked through every call and had your number.
Great double meaning in the last line as well as others. This has such a natural flow - rhymes are unobtrussive (hard to do). Another fantastic poem, Karen!
Snow