{"id":10353,"date":"2019-07-01T17:38:33","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T17:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/?p=10353"},"modified":"2019-07-01T17:38:33","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T17:38:33","slug":"rabbit-rabbit-rabbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/2019\/07\/rabbit-rabbit-rabbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Happy July!\u00a0<\/strong> Hope it is lucky for you. And, happy 4th of July. Hope you have some fun.<\/p>\n

And to my fellow Moon Children, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Here’s a poem I wrote twenty years ago, but I still like it.<\/p>\n

Peace, love, and solace<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

July begins<\/strong><\/p>\n

The day before I turn 41
\nI brood, wash dishes,
\nthink how my husband and sons
\nhave taken no time to shop,
\nhow I hadn\u2019t seen my boys
\nscurry away with crayons and paper
\nto make–all I asked for–a heartfelt card.
\nI clean the toilets,
\ntry to rid the blue bathroom
\nof that pissy smell,
\nthink this is my station in life,
\nkneeling before dirt, cleaning.
\nI\u2019m stern with the kids,
\nnever yelling, but always under my voice
\nis that tone–it keeps them
\nfrom arguing when I order beds be made
\nand laundry sent down the chute.<\/p>\n

I reason it is my period coming
\nor my birthday tomorrow,
\nthat makes me feel
\nold and suburban and unfulfilled,
\na messy home despite my housekeeping,
\na husband whose work is more demanding
\nthan I care to be,
\nand kids who are growing away
\nbefore I\u2019m done needing them.<\/p>\n

The next day
\nbreakfast is great–
\na plateful of pecan pancakes
\nwith the boys and then we talk
\nabout the man we saw the other day
\nwho yelled at a woman and her kid
\nin the parking lot at the shopping center,
\nabout Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield,
\nabout reining in impulses
\nand why parents must teach compassion, civility.
\nThey do not squirm too much,
\neven keep up their side of the discussion.<\/p>\n

Then we\u2019re off to the lake
\nwith the new beach chair
\nmy husband had bought and left
\nwith a bow in the kitchen.
\nIt\u2019s a deluxe model with cooler,
\ndrink holder, and backpack straps.
\nWe\u2019re the only ones
\nswimming because the water is 60 degrees
\nThe boys say it\u2019s so cold
\nit makes their balls hurt
\nand they play in the sand to warm up
\nuntil we go home for lunch,
\nsitting around the table in our damp suits,
\neating pickles out of the jar,
\nchips, and salami sandwiches.<\/p>\n

After lunch they watch tv
\nand I read the paper and drowse
\nuntil their dad comes home to leave me
\nto a peaceful bath while they shop
\nfor cards and cake. Dressed, I take the dog
\nfor a long walk and when I come home
\nmy son\u2019s at the computer,
\nmaking his gift, a sign that says
\n\u201cMom Kicks Butt.\u201d
\nMy other boy runs to get a familiar pink box,
\n\u201cWhite Shoulders,\u201d
\nthey had bought at Walgreen\u2019s.
\nThe college girl from down the street
\nwatches the kids while Dave and I
\nhave supper at an Italian restaurant
\nand we never run out of conversation
\nand we don\u2019t just talk about the kids.<\/p>\n

I have steak with Portobello mushrooms,
\nsomething no one else in my house likes.
\nBy the time we come home,
\nthe kids ready for bed,
\ncrowd around the kitchen table,
\nput their arms around me, and
\nI rub their smooth tanned backs.
\nThey make moony faces at their father
\nbut he doesn\u2019t comprehend their signs
\nso one of them asks
\nabout the dessert–banana cream pie,
\nmy favorite. They light the candles,
\ndarken the room, sing to me.
\nThe pie is there before me–
\nwhat could I wish?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 Ellen Wade Beals, 1997<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy July!\u00a0 Hope it is lucky for you. And, happy 4th of July. Hope you have some fun. And to my fellow Moon Children, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Here’s a poem I wrote twenty years ago, but I still like it. Peace, love, and solace     July begins The day before I turn 41 I brood, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1024,3588,3589,3587,1632,12,2222,3586,3590,39,13,7,16,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-10353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-birthday","8":"tag-birthday-poem","9":"tag-birthday-wish","10":"tag-cancer-birthday","11":"tag-ellen-beals","12":"tag-ellen-wade-beals","13":"tag-july","14":"tag-july-begins","15":"tag-moon-children","16":"tag-photography","17":"tag-poetry","18":"tag-solace","19":"tag-solace-in-so-many-words","20":"tag-weighed-words","21":"entry","22":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10353"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10357,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10353\/revisions\/10357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}