Three Poems
by Jennifer Shikes Haines
Road Trip
We busted our dust upon exiting the car
two days across interstates all the same,
except for that diner in Georgia
sweet cherry pies and disapproval.
Traded JLo, Bonnie Raitt, Patsy Cline via CDs,
sometimes spinning the radio dial,
mostly country so mostly turned off.
Connor learns to read via Ruby Pokemon.
Sarah tries not to vomit, sleeps as much
as she can despite her wanting to breath in America
along with cramps and car smell of empty french fry
containers, Subway chicken with black olives, lettuce
and ranch dressing wrappers.
We will see dolphins swimming
the next morning as we walk
along the beach, our toes cool-sanded.
For now all we want is shelter in this pastel
motel— our destination. Quote by Pope John Paul
on the welcome sign, not the flavor
for our crew but we pause judgment,
as this night our tongues will wrap
around the best manicotti and
we’ll learn to love the Polish owners of
this wonky little honky-tonk of a place
shuffleboard on the pool deck, a mini
of a mini-golf in back, an occasional
cockroach (it’s Florida after all)
kitchenette and a full bed and pull-out sofa.
We sleep cramped, close, and loving,
dip toes into the Gulf, discover
Publix and flavored grits packages,
a bright pink icon hotel down the road,
the European bakery and that tiki bar
with Elvis that shouts our names.
My Strength Lies
Title from Wangechi Mutu
Pain scale 3 i watch the world become a pinpoint of theyardthedogsZOOM
sitting in the yard: birdsong exquisite sun plays hide and seek
journal open I write joy but then:
joints burst/mind fogs/hands grasp ironwork of table
cuts into my palms as I gain purchase to stand
brain power: 2 when pain is 6 and above - ITis6andaboveItis6andaboveitIS6andabove
it is 6 and above
how to fit teens in zoom squares i fidget with screenshare/breakout rooms:
i drop the students all over the floor they shatter like glass
surround my limbs settle in the pit of my abdomen
run rivulets down my legs
sad-faced girls need distraction from abusive brother
cousin in prison grandmama shot
eviction notice posted i’m there i’m there i’m there Pain scale 7
brain like loose scrambled eggs
objectsdropandshatterlikeglassideasdropandshatterlikeglass
Pain scale 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 son without work/partner seeks new gender
both in depression vine tentacles green and oozing
extra “son” incarcerated calls each day covid deaths/covid statistics
Pain scale 9 and rising
i can dance but i can’t rise i can do chores but
i get no sleep all i do well is sit in my yard and listen
to sunshine/watch birdsong
Big Ass Flamingo Purse
Blistering Michigan summer ears-
sizzling-with-fried-eggs day. I
take photo after photo at the base
of a 23-foot grinning Santa at
Bronner’s CHRISTmas
Wonderland™. Photo after photo
because my exchange student
“daughters” are waging the
subtlest war for my and America’s
attention. I center Sarah and
Hasmik in the lens and bingo, my
purse weighs oganesson—
our universe’s heaviest property.
My legs drip with humidity ooze
and we will soon be off for
Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth’s
Famous Chicken Dinner™.
The next stop on our
Michigan cosmology.
But my purse is OG and I stagger
it to my feet. There are bellows
of pain and terror takes me as I
imagine diagnoses: blood clots,
burst arteries, hairline fractures,
torn ligaments.
Driving hurts. Air-conditioning
hurts. Eating the chicken hurts.
That broasted chicken, fluffy-
crackle biscuit and springsong
strawberry preserve
catch in my throat like endless
rheumatology appointments,
infinite blood vials.
Navigator of needs for all and
sundry–– There is an earworm of
now gated possibilities. What
does this future hold
for my notable needs son, my
notable needs husband, notable
needs exchange kids, notable
needs mother, notable needs
world?
Will I ever again be able
to lift this double-damned
flamingo-colored purse?
Jennifer Shikes Haines is a disabled poet and retired educator based in Southeast Michigan. She enjoys exploring questions of what does, and doesn’t, connect our world. On pain-free days, she loves to dance to just about anything or hang out with friends trying to make the world better. She’s been published in a few places and hopes to continue the trend.