toxic tylenol
don’t guzzle by the mouthful
or you might find yourself
    elsewhere

there’s a damp towel on the rack
toothpaste oozing into the sink
and the mirror shows reflections
    not redemptions

we’ve got bandages for 
    bad things
hair dye
in case you need to skip town
pink pills
purple pills
        and power

essential oils on the top shelf
for when you’re feeling groovy
and the bath water boils

emil nolde
    and the dancing lady
go bananas in the background

it was a quiet kind of sadness
the small kind
that never fits in crowded spaces

the mother felt it
    the daughter didn’t understand

so she played in the puddles
left over from last night's rain
watching her mother
with a soft curiosity

in turn her mother watched back
her daughter
so alive
twirling
hands flung up in the air
feet kicking up the water
every drop becoming a rainbow
scattered on the breeze
damp marks dotted the hem of 
her skirt

from the water grew chrysanthemums
white as bone
stalks straight
trying desperately not to droop

so the mother cried dry tears
and her daughter became the water

and when the world then quieted
they took each other’s hands
one note in a repeated melody

behind them
as they went
on the asphalt
damp footprints were made
next to dry ones

their happiness
just big enough 
to fit inside the toes

and so they walked home

SCENE 1
The theater is dark as the curtains rise on a solitary boy (FIGURE ONE) sitting at the bench of a piano that is center stage, facing sideways. When the curtain is halfway open the figure begins to play a sad melody. (Suggestion: Image-Autumn-Womb by Goldmund) This continues for a minute or two. At the minute mark another figure rises from one of the seats nearest to the stage. He(FIGURE TWO) walks up the steps of the stage slowly, coming from stage right, and goes to stand on the opposite side of the piano than FIGURE ONE. FIGURE TWO starts to walk around the piano in circles staring at FIGURE ONE, all the while the music plays. 

FIGURE TWO
You always make me cry.

FIGURE ONE
(As he is playing) And you make my fingers blister.

FIGURE TWO
I have said sorry for that many a time.

FIGURE ONE
(Beat) I know.

FIGURE TWO comes over to where FIGURE...

there were weeds in that swimming pool                                                       
and they weren't green
they were dandelion fuzz
breaking apart 
the bottom rung of the ladder
in the deep end that we climbed 
because we were ashamed
of our dripping bodies

the weeds in that pool
wouldn't have been mistaken for 
flowers
no, they were sky high
swaying
and scraping the clouds
in a last-ditch effort
to leave a mark
no lilies bloomed
no poppies burst like
fourth of july fireworks
no honey bees buzzed
in between the stalks of sunflowers

but we don’t even get the weeds
not in the chlorine
where plants don’t grow
and any slimy green
    vibrant green
thing is swept out of the
perfect
stifled landscape
of pool chairs
and barbecues for birthday parties
of inflatable food items 
that are...

it’s always sweater weather
the time of day to wrap oneself
in layers of soft
tide pool in dry waters for starfish
that might take the shape of birds
because warmth does not come
easy
the cold will stay
through bullets
and torn up flesh
but the warmth
will run
and you will run with it
to fast to catch frostbite
but to slow to make it
home

there were weeds in that swimming pool                                                       
and they weren't green
they were dandelion fuzz
breaking apart 
the bottom rung of the ladder
in the deep end that we climbed 
because we were ashamed
of our dripping bodies

the weeds in that pool
wouldn’t have been mistaken for 
flowers
no, they were sky high
swaying
and scraping the clouds
in a last-ditch effort
to leave a mark
no lilies bloomed
no poppies burst like
fourth of july fireworks
no honey bees buzzed
in between the stalks of sunflowers
pollinating

but we don’t even get the weeds
not in the chlorine
where plants don’t grow
and any slimy green
    vibrant green
thing is swept out of that 
perfect
stifled landscape
of pool chairs
and barbecues for birthday parties
of inflatable food items 
that...