middle class mom scene

hiding in the corner of the basement
behind respectable stacks
of storage bins and books

(blown away by the fact
i managed to keep two children
alive and happy
to the age of adulthood
because i’m so shitty at completion
i love them more than anything
that doesn’t leave you much choice)

i crouch and go about my business quietly
instruments of destruction in hand
lungs full
when the basement door swings open

light crawls down the steps
like a cat chasing a mouse

“Mom, are you down there in the dark?”

“Mmnkmmmmkmmmmk. No…”

(the young man laughs)

“Then why did you answer?’

“I didn’t want you to think
I’d hopped a train
or gotten lost.”