65.

The hamster died today.
She was turning awfully gray.
So now there's a choice
and I hear a small voice
saying get another and whisk it away.

64.

Thanksgiving Day 2009,
Polly's on all fours.
It won't be long until that babe
is crawling out the door.

She's rocking back and forth
with her belly off the ground.
But til she's up and crawling
she likes to roll around.

The blanket laid down on the floor
doesn't hold her in.
She rolls on past that invisible line
and looks at us and grins.

That little ball of squirminess
is gonna make us run.
And catching her is gonna be
like catching rays of sun.

63.

My knight in shining armor
takes her armor off at night.
Who knew that he would be
a she. Some say it isn't right.

But love is blind, or so they say,
and that's my attitude.
Until they change their minds and laws,
we'll stand with fortitude.

62.

If you'd asked a year ago,
I'd have said it's very true:
That families can be broken,
the core split right in two.

But living means that people grow
and families can move on.
For healing does begin anew
with every breaking dawn.

61.

So how is this thing going?

This writing a poem every day?

I've found that sometimes I struggle

or that I don't have that much to say.

The hardest part is putting them up,

even when they're not my "best."

But I said that I would write them down,

not that they'd pass an editor's test.

60.

I miss my girls when I'm not at home
and they're cuddled up at night.

And then one calls and says to me,

"Can't you tuck me in real tight?"

But I once read my hardest job

is to build up their self-worth.

Them: Mama leaves but then comes home?

I'm the greatest kid on Earth.

59.

Mask drops for a split-second.
Does someone see: Vulnerability,
Insecurity. Not different you
and I, but one holds too-tightly
the masquerade.

58.

I just ran a mile and a half.

In the middle, got a cramp in my calf.

I wanted to slow,

but my friend she said, "No."

So I finished and pride I still have.

57.

It's time to change my shirt.

It certainly wouldn't hurt.

With snot like glue

and maybe poo,

this one smells like dirt.

56.

Where's that Magic Eight Ball

when the future seems unclear?
And where's the instruction manual

for the problems I have here?

Who knows all the answers

to these questions that I ask?

And where's the inner wisdom

I so need to meet the task?

But living's an adventure

when paths are hidden still.

And onward forging blindly

is a testament of will.

55.

Air bubble trapped expands narrow passages,

wreaks havoc on surrounding nerves,

sending screaming commands to overlaying muscles:

Contract. Release. Contract. Release.

Until, roaring through, the noxious stimulus

erupts in a most-satisfying BRAAAP!

54.

Mom, my teacher's prejudiced.

I thought that you should know.

If you go to school with me,

you'll see that it is so.

You know my friend who's Gabrielle,

the new boy in my school?

I told you 'bout him yesterday.

I think he's kinda cool.

My teacher isn't very nice

when Gabe is clownin' round,

Because he yells out real loud:

"Enough, now, Mr. Brown!"

53.

There once was a girl named Polly,

who was as cute as a porcelain dolly.

When she would giggle and play

it would brighten your day,

leaving you happy and feeling so jolly!

52.

Phoebe's up at 4 a .m.

with no sleep in our sight.

She's laughing, talking, playing too,

in the middle of the night.

She's gonna wake her sisters up

with all her carrying on.

So here I'm shushing, rocking too

in the early hours of dawn.

51.

My baby sisters poked my eye,

pulled my hair and made me cry.

Mama says that they don't know

that doing that just hurts me so.

Now I'm learning to be brave

'cause they don't know how to behave.

50.

"Mama share your printzles, please?

I love them for a snack.

And won't you pet my puppy dog?

His furb is soft and black.

"The seed is big and huge and blue

and mermaids swim in it.

And when we go down to the beach

it's on the sand we'll sit.

"I saw a Freak-in-stine today.

It's almost Halloween.

We'll dress up in our costumes soon

and 'tend that we're the Queen."

I know she doesn't say them right,

the words I hear her use.

But how can I correct her when

that cuteness I would lose?

48.

Won't you stop that cutting-up,
before you wake your sisters up?
I know you're whispering, I see!
But out this room you need to be!
Don't you make them wake and cry.
Please tip-toe gently. Do try.
And if they open one little peep
it doesn't mean they're up for keeps.
So don't lean over and say hello,
or off to bed you, too, will go!

49.
All they do is tell me shush;
and then they yell out, "Hush, hush, hush!"
My baby sisters need their naps,
but how much longer can that last?
I walk by and see their eyes,
and then they open up, surprise!
So, stopping then, to lean so low,
I just want to say hello.
Cause anyone can plainly see
that naps ain't fun as playin' with me.

47.

Overwhelmed by stress today,
Mama wants to run and play.
Someone hold me on their lap,
and tuck me in before my nap.
But been there, done that, as they say,
and now it's time to live each day,
protecting them, where I belong,
so they will grow up big and strong.

46.

Oh my goodness, I'm so tired,
and the kids are good and wired.
I'd like to go and lay my head
up on my pillows in my bed.
But little girls are so awake
I'm not sure that they will take
a nap!

45.

We're gonna butt heads, she and I,
if we don't soon see eye to eye.
She is three, I'm thirty-five,
but she rules the roost, is Queen of the Hive.
The parenting books say take deep breaths
but her stubbornness is out of my depths.
But then she smiles and says to me,
"I love you Mama. You're my favorite, see."
Together we'll journey across each mile
and be thankful the teen years aren't for awhile.

44.

Holding sleeping Polly,
Nuk still in her mouth,
the wailing cries are muted,
those ones heard way down South.

And even though we cringe in fear
when first she starts to fuss,
we take her in our loving arms
and fight the urge to cuss.

43.

Not feeling creative or funny tonight.
The words aren't coming or sounding just right.
The weight of the world is spinning inside.
I want to bury myself under covers and hide.
So hold all my calls, my texts and IMs.
I'll be up in my room with some plain M&Ms.

42.

Dementia robs people of clear-thinking heads,
leaving shells of the person and violence instead.
Care-givers continue to love whom they knew,
but when is enough that it's time to be through?
And does mourning begin for the loved one so dear,
when the relationship changes into one to be feared?
The answers aren't clear when these questions arise
and God help us all when we're living those lives.

41.

There once was a Phoebe Elise
whose smiles would always increase.
She hugged 'round your neck
and your cheek she would peck,
bringing everyone gladness and peace.