Mother and Daddy flee

to the grocery store,
the laundromat,
the ice cream parlor.
For all I know,
they are sitting
in a parked car
in Kidd Springs Park,
just south of here,
stealing quiet
they couldn’t find at home,
leaving ten-year-old Sissy
in charge
of a five-year-old me
and nine-year-old brother,
her idea of babysitting
was sweeping the floor
and teaching me to dust
the legs of the table.

Buddy, our brother
had already escaped
our sister’s preparations
for her life
of taking care of others,
He wasn’t in the mood
for women’s work,
our father’s phrase,
spoken in disdain.
He’d rather be chasing
horned toads in the alley
looking for his next adventure
making the most of his short life.