Poetry

They sit.

They stare.

They look up at you patiently.

Waiting.

But there are no sticks nearby.

The toys are out of reach.

They are disappointed.

So they go find places to sleep.

For cats

this is normal.

Decorative and semi functional.

There to please the eyes of the men.

In the background with no useful dialogue.

The patriarchy wins again as the token woman is silent.

Or worse, misogyny overrules when it is determined

She is the villain of the story.

So instead the stories rule she will be used

only to further the protagonist’s arc.

Revenge or redemption and chance of her own fulfilling plot line.

Not taking a shower in three days.

Dishes piled up in the kitchen sink.

The process of removing the accumulated snot

during the recovery of the sickness.

The man catcalling the woman on the street.

Calling people worthless just because they are the wrong colour!

Denying climate change because the facts don’t make you money.

Anti-vaxxers or as I shall know call them plague enhancers

who think they know more than the doctors

who are trying to keep you and your kids alive!

Corporations that fund politicians to influence policy

and the politicians that allow themselves to be bribed.

My kid ignoring me as I ask them to take out the garbage by the back door.

My denial that I can not do anything

and just meekly accept things as they are!

The sexy lampshade walks and talks

but all she is there for is the furthering of his story.

She dies a tragic death so that it fuels his revenge.

The more shows and films I watch

the more bitter I become.

I want tasty bits for the women who show us what life is like.

The ones that real and not easily replaced with an inanimate object.

Sure the fuel for his character plot could have come from an old partners death

or the loss of his life’s work.

Why fall back on the tropes of misogyny?

Why treat the colors as inferior?

What does race mean or religion?

How are we different when we are all the same inside?

The blandness of the stories told need spicing up.

So please give me a little inclusion sauce.

I like seeing all the genders portrayed

even the most fluid of them!

The thrill of excitement.

The rush of adrenaline.

The boring follow up

as you are recaptured

and are coming down from the shock.

Laughing because you can.

Trying again will be harder

but this mundane life needs to be spiced up sometimes.

 

When the bad behaviour increases.

When the limits are pushed

and relearned the hard way.

They fight and scream and curse your name.

The dreaded uttered words

“I hate you!”

Usually screamed because it causes more of a scene.

It is in these trying times that the parent must remember

if this is how they react – it is good

because if they got everything they wanted

they would be spoiled and selfish when they grow up.

Afterwards, give them a hug

and remind them of your love.

Writing stuff that is not me.

Living vicariously through my cats.

Cleaning up after everyone else in the house.

Lack of sleep and random food times.

Striving to do better and despairing of success.

Not knowing what my next phase of life will be.

Anxious and unwilling to ask for help.

The phrases of good friends go unheard.

On this cold winter day

where the errands must be run

All I want is to curl up and cry.

Instead a false smile plastered on

as I head out the door to a future I don’t understand.

Forgotten in the morning waking.

Not taken the day before.

The effects are seen in the one who should have.

Yet they carry on.

These things are used to help.

Some may abuse them

But the ones who truly need them

Find them a blessing, not a curse.

So try to remember the pill.

History is doomed to repeat if it is forgotten.

Everything and anything.

When nothing will fit anymore

and then you top it off with the special sauce.

Whether you like it or not

Life is nothing short of the works.

It throws everything at you

and all you can do is eat it.

Not everyone will grin and bear it.

Most will grump at the things they don’t like.

When that happens you can sympathize and then move on.

Or continue eating your own way through the works.