Being a big boy from the start, my younger brother became the hero<\/p>\n
to watch out for the frailer brother with the taunting bravado<\/p>\n
gaining a reputation for fixing — liking that reputation a lot.<\/p>\n
Built up his savings, to ensure helping his kids when he was gone<\/p>\n
but Wall Street came to a precipice; so too his effort to be a full time Grandpa.<\/p>\n
his back damaged by years of over-time fixing; his hero image dimmed.<\/p>\n
Broken mirrors distort the view<\/p>\n
Bro’s Grandsons were rowdy by nature; schools closed; daughter was overwhelmed;<\/p>\n
Bro invited the boys to stay for the Summer, parks and back yard projects made it great<\/p>\n
for a while.<\/p>\n
The stock market is unstable, his investments are tenuous, steep losses are ugly.<\/p>\n
How to fix it?<\/p>\n
Temporary fixes in vape pens and such<\/p>\n
Voices sound like Mom sometimes<\/p>\n
driving him to hold on, but . . .<\/p>\n
Broken Mirrors Distort<\/p>\n
Sells off investments;\u00a0 and\u00a0 Grand-kids go back to their Mom and Dad<\/p>\n
Spends the money the way Mom would have, if she had ever had a nest-egg.<\/p>\n
Revived his yard; new fence for him, another for the struggling neighbor<\/p>\n
Backaches prohibit mowing his own; hires neighborhood guys who need the work<\/p>\n
Cut my yard, and cut that neighbor’s, and those neighbors too.<\/p>\n
But his efforts somehow don’t measure up — hasn’t fixed the world, yet.<\/p>\n
Needing a better mirror!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
by Nancy Ann Smith,\u00a0 Amherst, Ohio<\/p>\n
June 27, 2020\u00a0 \u00a0Poetry Marathon<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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