I is for initiative

(n. 1. an introductory act or step; leading action
2. readiness and ability in initiating action; enterprise)

A Mother's Recipe


I buy steak.
I buy potatoes.
I buy broccoli.

I sear the steak
sprinkle thyme.
I dice and boil
potatoes, strain.
I cut and steam
broccoli al dente.

I add to the potatoes:
onion, greek yogurt
parsley, coriander,
basil, nothing more.

My son adds lemon juice
and olive oil to broccoli
just as his girlfriend's
family do. It is a meal!

But where did it begin?
In watching my mother?
In abetting my father?
In using recipe books
abandoning them?
In becoming interested
in gardening? In buying
a house with vegetable
beds already boxed?
In planting, netting, weeding,
carefully distributing water?

This morning I woke
with a commitment
to steak, potato salad,
greens. Steak is for
strength, potato salad
for posterity, greens
for guardianship

On Mother's Day 2010
let it be said: I created
yet another meal from
possibility; my children
even as adults, are well-fed.

Off the Cuff 19: Found Out & The Pinchy Boy

Found Out

Two small boys dash
along the pavement.
Off to school!
"Late!" my daughter says.
"They're early!"
"I mean the ones not
scooting to school.
I mean the waggers
in the skateboard park."
"Oh."

"That's one thing I never did,"
she says after that slight pause.
"Skateboarding? Scooting?"
"No, wagging."
"Yes," I say, "You did become a
conscientious attender."
(Smug mother)
"Yeah," she says, "When I was
a conscientious attender, I
never wagged. I just
pretended to be sick."

I laugh.
She looks a little peaky.


NaPoWriMo 19


The Pinchy Boy

Nameless other than that.
No wonder he pinched.
Made the girls cry. Little
misogynist. Or practical
tear-jerker addicted as
an arsonist, and boys
don't cry, won't cry.

Pinched my sister, not
me, unaware of other
victims. Perhaps she
asked for it? Her dress
too short, shorts too
tight, attitude to nudity
flagrantly punishable?

I wonder what became
of him, who he became?
After Kindergarten and
all that playtime, how
did he fare? I wonder, too
whether my own son was
ever named The Bitey Boy.

Will I one day read a poem
or short story in a feminist
collection, charging my boy
with politically incorrect
hungers? Or see a movie about
both: Skin Lovers Beware!?

APAD 19   prompt: name of person as title

Off the Cuff 15: Deadline & A lifetime of being in & out of love for Melbourne Ch 3

APAD 15     prompt: a deadline poem

"Deadline" is a deadly phrase
inviting fear instead of praise.
Why not a "liveline"
or "Date By When"?
And as I say that, I think again.

I pause for thought, as I often do
which is why my work is overdue.
I'll procrastinate
as habit dictates
until I'm in the overload stew.

Then plans and schedules give me peace
While occasions for play
are a true release.
And there is nothing else to do
but take my time
exactly when it's due!


A Lifetime of being in and out of love for Melbourne

Chapter 3:  1979 - 82

Directionless whether in South Yarra,
Box Hill North or North Fitzroy,
it's a time for star gazing, learning
the language of refugee landings: I am
an island of empathy, someone
who now can't see why others say
"They all look the same". I react to
foreign impulses, all too familiar, and
become a mother, move to Dromana.


NaPoWriMo 15