I Go To the Backyard

The backyard finally shines with green and blue Julie stresses and storms through the shafting Saturday light Ella cries over the tossing of her mother's old trophies She wants them though they're not hers to have I am standing amid a circuitry of thick taut ropes With duck tape across my mouth I am told this is not my drama Though I must watch and keep above the waves In silence, in shadows, and if I dare speak a serpent's tongue will lash out at my good intentions My rotten timing, my ghostly presence How do you express the "there, there?" In what fantasy world, can I send both mother and daughter to their rooms? Until they learn to speak nicely to each other? When do I get to shout some sweet nonsense? After all, my hands are still free The duck tape isn't permanent I can shatter this quiet agreement I can be the psychologist-lover-father-figure Though I can also sit outside in the backyard Where the colors shine blue and green for the first time in months And wait for it all to pass over, to be better. With what wiser minds do we treat such roller coasters?