PAD 2014 #9 HOUSE

HOUSES

The first time
I consciously built a house
it was made out of pillows
Mrs. Kelliher’s daybed
with its black floral design
held a double row of perfect
overstuffed, matching pillows
just waiting for us to turn into a cave
where Mom couldn’t see us
and we couldn’t “hear her”
If she called to us from across the hall
“Time for bed!”
Mrs. Kelliher, sweet old lady colluding
with mischievous brats who, often
left her apartment in an uproar
would warn us
just before Mom’s patience
wore thin and became
a life or death warning!

Mrs. Kelliher had TWO decks of cards
A luxury for us
Many the hours we spent on her living-room rug
with “The Secret Storm” in the background
on the old black-and-white
and the diagonal lines of interference
running through the screen
Junior architects with rows of houses to build
some with second stories, the result of patience
and some with side yards
housing imaginary families and livestock
till big brother blew them down
and we were comforted with the freedom
of spreading copious amounts of honey
onto Nabisco graham crackers
till our elbows stuck to the table and
our hair stuck to our cheeks