The Poetry Marathon

I’m not engaged

I’m not

still single.

For two days Facebook made me

look engaged,

but I’m not

still single.

It was a game

when I hit a button

and it would tell me

how my 2023 would end

ENGAGED in bold letters

it read

and that’s all my friends saw.

I’m not engaged

I’m not

still single.

The piles of hearts comments

and Congratulations wishes poured in.

I’m not engaged

I’m not

still single.

At first I assumed

it was my poetry Haiku award,

I was being congratulated for.

Then I saw it

the picture with the oversized ring

and it looked like my hand.

I’m not engaged

I’m not

still single.

Then there was my profile picture

from a Meet and Greet with Jason Cerbone

aka Jackie Aprile Jr on The Sopranos.

We looked like a couple happy with our smiles

except he’s married and has a daughter.

I’m not engaged

I’m not

still single

like a newspaper headline

or billboard announcement.

I have the best Facebook friends

for thinking I’m a good enough catch

for Jason Cerbone.

I’m not engaged

I’m not

still single.

Life in Special Education as a Teacher Aide can only be described as expect the unexpected.

It is what happens everyday no day is ever the same.

Kids with special needs, Autism, Down Syndrome and other multiple disabilities are one word unpredictable.

Shoes will fly

hair pulled

punch

kick

spit

bit

groped

you name it, it’ll happen to you.

There is absolutely nothing you can do about it  unless you leave.

Some days life in a classroom is grand.

Kids behave have their medications.

Goals and data are at a reachable level.

Don’t get comfortable the next day

chairs and tables will fly

staff will be dodging them.

The school has the local fire department and EMS on a speed dial

because between children with seizure disorders and staff injuries you’ll get used to the flashing light opportunities.

You get holidays off with pay.

Also great medical and dental benefits you will need.

Welcome to Special Education

where every day becomes a poem.

Inside my mirrored doors

my dreams hide.

My aims for a better body subside.

Inside my two door wardrobe

lies my wishes of running into you,

in a flowery flowing top

matching cute flats and form fitting jeans.

Inside the metal and glass enclosures of a cupboard my clothing and shoes hold onto my secrets,

ones I plan to share with you.

This clandestine knows you’re gone

like donation bags I fill

each year with things I’ll never wear,

like the smile I would’ve had seeing you.

The Massapequa Little League Softball Girls aged twelve and under are the 2023 World Series champions.

This is Massapequa.

This place where Massapequa Moms

fight to unmask their children,

allow team mascots represent leadership

“Once be a Chief,

always a Chief.”

A place where girls parade in successes and athleticism,

not deteriorated in prostitution.

Once known for Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher.

Her failed attempt of killing her married boyfriend’s wife Mary Jo Buttafuoco.

Shooting her in the face into deformity

on a Biltmore Shores doorstep.

This is not my Massapequa.

More recent Rex Heuermann

known as the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer responsible for the unsolved murders of escorts now connected around the country.

This is not my Massapequa.

Despite Jerry Seinfeld, Brian Setzer, and the Baldwins all have lived in this suburban neighborhood at some point.

It was also home for over forty years to Doris Wahl, my mother.

She, the first woman starter of Track and Field at the Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia 1996.

This is my Massapequa.

It is with proudness that I declare this extraordinary place to live.

Honored to be a woman of the Massapequas.

A commitment kept between two hearts

a four-lettered promise

those nervous butterflies at the sight of him

everything that follows after life…after live…

everything that’s offered and what you have to give

its work, truthfulness, open and it’s free

its between people and animals

it has two legs or four paws

its blood pumping to the heart

ink dripping from your pen

it’s the inspiration to write this

its a phone call, a hug, a kiss, and everything that comes in between.

Deep black wings

outlined in pale yellow

a pair soar across

a blue sky

like two sailboats

in a lonely ocean.

Everything comes in pairs

relationships

socks

friendships

shoelaces

parents

gloves …

Two butterflies

these dark toned angels

flutter on a late summer breeze

inside a September sky.

for Joe Curry & Brandon Cullen

”Lifeguards in every sense.” Carol Gussoff, CBS New York

One lifeguard bench at Robert Moses State Beach connects two twenty-four year olds.

A bond closer than any of us imagine.

They share a love of gym workouts,

surfing, and working together

for five years.

One life saved without a single drop of water.

A true sacrifice in giving

one lifeguard to another.

A kidney transplant enables

their continuation in saving lives.

This contribution gives the term “lifeguard” a true meaning,

long after a beach season ends.

In a field full of sunflowers

stands an empty swing

browns and golden yellows

a seat not occupied

too desolate to be found

too delicate to be sat upon.

Summer draws closer and closer

to its end.

Children are “back to school” shopping

instead of running through sunflower fields.

Picking out backpack colors

instead of sunflowers.

Riding electric scooters

not crackling old wooden swings.

This field so full of floral life

empty, all but a memory now.

for Lauri Carleton

Mag.pi is the name of her boutique

in Cedar Glen, California,

small business outside San Bernardino.

This fashionista studied Fashion in Pasadena and worked fifteen years for Kenneth Cole.

Because she hung rainbows

vibrant colors like the plush toys.

I played with in the 80s.

Lauri loved hard

a mother of nine.
She nurtured and protected

those she cared about.

This giving heart organized a co-op

gave out free food and supplies

during a blizzard.

Because she hung rainbows

her property and flags damaged,

but not her spirit and support.

This woman laughed through her smiles.

Because she hung rainbows

an angry culprit with a gun

took her life stained her flags

with hatred.

Now a community mourns

with “acts of kindness”

being done in her memory.

Children without a mother

husband without a wife

a business without an owner

all because she hung rainbows.

I watch this program like it’s a religion.

Nev and Kamie are like Jeckyl and Hyde

for on-line daters around the country.

I like some of their repeats with grey-haired Max puts his true sense in.

Together they photo search if pictures are real

see if phone numbers are legitimate not apps.

Find out if a person is who they say they are.

I celebrate with a victory glass of wine

if the catfish is real.

I dance and laugh when it’s a spouse testing another to see if they will cheat.

Developing fake profiles I cringe

when it’s the opposite sex, a bully, or an obese loner sits behind a screen all day with a box of bon bons.

Socially awkward mental illnesses should not be glorified on television.

Eight seasons later I’m still glued to my couch watching who’s who as Nev and a variety of cohosts run around the country.

These reminders why I never trust on-line dating.