The First of July
By Vene Franco
Email: writerstodolist at mac dot com
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July 10, 2008
With my morning hair and flip-flops
I shuffle out to get the paper at
the end of the driveway
Across the street the good husband
in his Bermuda shorts and cap is
packing up the family
He loads up the wagon
filling up the back with sleeping bags,
coolers, beach chairs, and more
His pixie-haired daughter with her
pink capris runs in circles on the front lawn
oblivious to daddy's stacking strategy
From the screen door the wife shouts out
"I said not to put the ..." and her voice
trails off but her annoyance hangs in the air
The bent man goes in and out of
the house again and again and the car fills
more with red and blue squares of stuff
From my window I look out to see
the wife's broad backside bent into
the driver's side fussing with who-knows-what
(maybe that thing she told him not to put wherever)
Soon the car doors slam and the yelling stops and
the reverse lights shine white as the family backs out
onto the street and into its summer vacation
They leave the window shades pulled down,
the garbage bins overturned at the curb, and
from the porch an American flag waves its goodbye
About the author:
Former magazine editor turned stay-at-home writer. Working on first collection of essays. Putting off a day job until the money runs out.
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