postcard: nostalgia

Things that brought me joy as a kid, mostly in Texas and between 7-10 yrs old: Learning Roman numerals (voluntarily during the summer) with a workbook given to us by I can't remember who. Being at the top of any tree, but especially the live oak in the neighbor's pasture. A wristwatch with a red leather band and a tiny beating heart on the face. (I broke the crystal while climbing the oak.) Sound collecting expeditions with a tape recorder and my brothers. Running full-out to the farthest reaches of the playground with Maggie. A little white plastic purse from Micah who was awkward and goofy and so sweet. Scissors gifted by a mortician that were sharp and pointy and probably not a wise choice for a child, but could cut construction paper with gratifying precision. Coloring and coloring books. Stacks of mimeograph prints of coloring pages I nabbed from my 2nd grade teacher's garbage can. The realization that adults could be wrong and I could be right.

http://nbwhoop.tumblr.com/post/47088037568/nostalgia

tort

got those
shriveled in upon myself
wicked witch's shoes
unrecognizable
bent out of shape
curlicues blues
quadruple double triple take
snake eating tail eating snake
snack break
round again bend again
snap, crack, pop and wend again
defensive reflex send again
low down dirty crazy eights
got no good sense to set it straight

torsion just begins the woes
tension will reap what it sows
when wiggled toe scratches nose
catches slip,
purchase stripped
hips wrists whiplash twist
frenetic kinesis lays its claim
levels, not enough to maim,
decimates it all the same

recompense clearly due
for me
          not you