Going Downhill Fast

There Really Are Alternate

Reality's

There came another time

An alternate reality

In which I was accused…

(righteous fingers pointed at me, cruel laughs heard in the dark twisting corridors of mind)

…of being bitter

I got out my dictionary and looked up bitter

"Causing, showing or feeling mental pain or resentment"

I was forced to escape.

People Traps

My oldest daughter once asked me

“Give me some man traps Mom?

You know”, she said, “How a woman will ask.

Do you think I’m fat?”

It’s a skill-testing question.

“That’s a woman trap Mom”, she told me

“Give me some man traps?”

I told my daughter, “Dear

It’s not man traps or woman traps

It’s people traps.

“People trapping themselves in moments in time

In places they wish

Didn’t be.”

It wasn’t a very satisfying discussion

For my daughter

Or myself

She wanted trite, off the cuff remarks

To throw at a young man she was flirting with

And I wanted to give her

Pearls of wisdom

Neither one of us ended up with what we wanted