First thing this morning, my husband asked me, if I wanted some coffee in my milk
As the cat dropped a ball at my feet with an eager bark, really he did.
And, the news on NPR was good, so very good, all politics and economics and hijinks aside.
So, I sat down to pizza and cookies for breakfast, pleased with myself
Until daughter number one requested only fruits and vegetables in her lunch, and seaweed, too.
Daughter number two descended the stairs with knee high socks on her hands as mittens,
Thumbs sticking out of the holes her big toes had slowly etched out.
I gave my husband my look to remind him that I was not his grandmother, and
I never had nor never would darn a sock, thank you very much, bemused at the thought.
“I have a life,” I said as I went out to drive the carpool to school with all the teens and tweens
Who never complained once about my music on the radio and even let me sing along without rebuke.
Later, the postman left the mail in the planter, the housekeeper shook the dust about,
The cleaners neglected the stain on the jacket lapel, and the grocer packed the milk atop a dozen eggs.
I watched my neighbor run by the house backwards, befuddled by the sight.
His gasping strains of “training, triathlon” momentarily inspired images of my best self,
The self that goes to the gym to lift weights and run fast and hard and long on the treadmill.
Instead, I climbed the stairs and sat at my desk with paper and envelope at hand to write you
A personal letter, just this once, once again, despite the years of unspoken words, to give them voice.
I just didn’t know who to write them to or how to fit them on a single sheet of stationery,
The words pouring forth, exploding from the pen, escaping the envelope.
So, instead, I wrote on the envelope itself, inside and out, sealed
The stamp and mailing address inside, and marked it “Return to Sender” with these words —
Today was hard and unexpected. This life, at once pleasing and surprising then backward,
Upside down, and inside out, cannot be contained and controlled, remember.
You don’t know all of me or understand everything about them, but the perplexity clears,
The mishaps and misunderstandings pass. Just mail the world your best efforts and loving thoughts,
Special delivery, and wait by the mailbox tomorrow, you can count on its arrival.
