ain'tlovegrandwisdom

Love You Long Time

By Laura McCollough Moss

We're not kids

it's just another day really

Hallmark holiday

gone commercial

I'd kill you if you

spent money

out of obligation.

What's real love anyway?

Not construction paper hearts

with doilies on top

or the latest jewelry craze.

It's getting up with babies

making homemade soup

bringing home new boots when the old ones

crack and let the water in.

 We don't have to jump

through adolescent hoops

to know what we have here.

Still,

would it have killed you

to pick up a dollar card

and a candy bar?

I mean really.

What are you doing out there?

So this is what it's like

to sit in the living room

and smell something cooking.

Here you come with a plate

of noodles with the chicken

shaped perfectly on top.

"I can give you more but I didn't want to spoil the heart."

God I'm lucky

You've always known just what I needed

And I cry

Oh, Honey,

You shouldn't have.

forthewiveswisdom

For the Wives
By Laura McCollough Moss

She parks the car and trudges inside
for her daily visit
hoping that the new rouge hides
the old tears.
Five years now she has been coming
to see him
He looks nothing like the pictures to
anyone but her.
They say she should go home
and rest, relax
She doesn't know how without him there.
She's had to learn to fix things
she mows grass
and does his laundry at home
She likes it when he smells nice
like he used to.
They don't care like she does
They feed and water him
turn him over
clean up his messes
while they talk about their weekend.
They think she doesn't see them
roll their eyes
when she asks for news of him.
He's fine they say.
If he was fine would he be here?
She cares.
So when they're short with her she cries.
That upsets him
and makes her feel guilty added to sad.
How to make them understand
that he is more than what they see?
He's a father and a fisherman
a foreman and fun at parties
He likes to feel that he's earned
his rest and food
But now they come too easily
and time crawls.
He hurts and misses his dog.
His life in the moving kodak frame
so far away.
The only thing that makes it bearable
is her faithfulness.
He loves her.