It's Still Life

AND ONE POTATO, TWO POTATOES, THREE

And I say, 3 for you and 2 for me, and I’m serving up dinner, and you ask, Why do I get 3 and you only get 2, and I say, Because that’s the way it’s always been – Because I don’t need as much as you, and then you say, So why do you have more green beans than me, and I ask, Do you want more green beans, and you say, No not really, beans aren’t my favourite, and I say, Which explains why I have more beans than you do. And then I set the jug of gravy on the table, and say, Here’s gravy – as if it needs announcing, in case you think it’s chocolate sauce. And now I’m wondering why I didn’t use this sort of Ill-logic on the boys when they were young and full of I-just-want-attention questions that I never had rehearsed answers for, like … Where does wind come from, or What’s for dinner, or What??!! And my mother was right, a woman’s labour is never done, even after everyone else retires and their minging dogs have put their feet up, we’re still cooking, and trying to divide an odd number of green beans and potatoes between plates.

Our 1st date was on a green bench
This is some form of memory, but
What shape is the circle of life

©️ Misky 2019. Written for dVerse Poets – poem form Haibun. Image is from Flickr Commons.