Best Poems Written by Jennifer Maxwell

Childhood

childhood (puzzle poem)

                                           Dancing to the Jackson 5 at three in the morning

Burning marshmallows on a campfire

                                              Bananas and chocolate with mom

                        Sitting under the awning in the rain, listening to baseball
                          
 running from cicadas
                                                    
                                                          The smell of cigarettes on dad’s jacket

kissing Billy in the dark
                        
                         That time dad called the White House and got through

Picking blackberries with aunt barb
                                     
                                     Sneaking into a movie theater with the girl next door

Eating alone at lunch, too shy to make friends
                                
                         My brother falling in a hole in the road

Fishing for crawdads, then being too afraid to touch them
                                                        
                                                        Scaring my sister with daddy long legs
                     
Waking up in the hospital after a seizure
                                                           
                            Getting a check that bounced for Christmas

The lake in Wisconsin so clear you could see the bottom
                                 
                             Trying to attract an older boy by pretending to be British
                                         
                    Going to the drive-in when dad left after a fight

Taking sleds to the meat market during the storm of '77
                                                                          
                                                                  Jumping on the milk box
                   
                   Another brother in braces with an icicle as tall as he was


                                            pieces of my childhood
                                              each of them a story
                                    I cannot put them together for you
                                             You just had to be there

Copyright © Jennifer Maxwell | Year Posted 2020