Four and a half
By Ann Campanella
There is no boredom.
My daughter spends
her days skating
on the rug, painting
masterpieces, taping
art to the walls, moving
matchbox cars through
an imaginary city.
We settle for a moment
on the couch to read, and
she wants to know why –
Why is there a storm?
What is lightning? Why
can’t we go swimming
in the rain? Whatever
comes into her head
spills out. Only at bedtime,
does her spinning
slowly unwind as
she prays “for a baby,
and that Mommy and Daddy
have a safe day.”
I hold her warm body
on my lap, press lips
into her hair. Tomorrow,
we begin again. |
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Ann Campanella was formerly a magazine and newspaper editor. She writes poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Her work focuses on her love of family, nature, and animals. Twice, she received the Poet Laureate Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society, and her poetry was selected for the Blumenthal Readers & Writers Series. Her writing has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Outrunning the Rain, her first poetry collection, was published in 2006. She lives on a small horse farm in Huntersville, NC, with her husband, daughter, and animals.
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