Tension and Release

[Read Write Poem prompted us to write about contrasting things.]



Tension and Release

I flew out to be with Mom,
when Daddy was in the hospital.
There was not much I could do
except to be there,
keeping her company,
making sure she ate,
and offering to drive
when she was too tired.

Between trips to the hospital
I helped clean the house
and run errands.
We needed to fix
the large throw rug in the living room
since it would not stay put
on the wall-to-wall carpeting.

One evening found us
in our night clothes,
kneeling in the living room,
affixing a sticky pad
to the back of the rug.

That was the plan.
But our hands stuck to the sticky-pad
and our knees tangled in our nightgowns,
until we were like human flies
struggling in flypaper
or a giant spider web.

We started giggling,
and soon rolled on the floor
weak from laughing
because we couldn't stop,
and thinking it was a good thing
that the neighbors didn't hear us.