a rocket, some onion dip, and a new t.v.

SON

We’re waiting now, 

Any minute,

I’m using a tiny

Toy rocket to fidget


My feet drum a beat 

Against the couch

It bothered Dad, before

He’s quiet about it now


***

MOM

I can’t quite tell how I arrived right here

On this long couch, so floral, orange, and green

I recognize the onion dip I made

But the making of it’s foggy, a dream


It’s there on the Cushman coffee table

It’s where I’m sure my hands set it before

My husband dunks a chip but doesn’t look 

At me — he  hardly sees me anymore


My thoughts drift down the hall, a room unseen

Lost hopes, lost dreams, lost life, behind a door.


***

DAD

I swore I wouldn’t — no way, no how.

“If I didn’t get one to watch Kennedy,

I sure ain’t gonna get one now.”


But last week I saw it, a family, happy

Just a photo, of course, an ad

Probably watching something crappy


And I thought, maybe, it can’t make things worse
Nothing can, when you’ve watched 

As your heart leaves in a hearse.



***


SON

It’s happening,

And we can see it!

On our own TV

I can’t believe it


Dad said he’d never,

But look at us now

Eating onion dip and watching

The boob tube from the couch


I’m settled right

Between Mom and Dad

I wish Lucas were here

And I wish we weren’t sad


***

MOM

Levi is here, only inches away

But I might as well be up on the moon

I’m trying, trying, to inch my way back

But I’m heavy, too sad, it’s hard to move


Rocket in his lap and hands at his side

Eyes locked solely on the new T.V. screen

He’s still for once in his fidgety life —

And I’m struck — how close his hand is to me


I’m afraid if I don’t do something soon

I’ll be sucked in and swallowed whole by grief


***

DAD

I didn’t know there’d be so much I can’t fix

When I imagined my life

I never imagined this


In the photo, in the ad, the family were close

They were touching, together

But of course it was posed


Still, maybe, I could try, what would it hurt?
I could try reaching, try touching
I just wish I was sure.


***


SON

He’s on the ladder,

Going down

One last jump
And somehow


He’s there

I’m glued
There’s a man 

On the moon


Someone touches

My hand, then pulls away

Then touches again

Squeezes, and stays


And then

At the same time

Another hand grabs mine

On the other side


And Neil says 

“One small step for man”

I hold my breath

And squeeze back, both hands

Then we each

Begin to weep,

And Neil says 

“One giant leap.”

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escape from ganymede (100 words)