Letter #51

Hi Dad,

I haven't written to you for awhile.  That doesn't mean nothing has been happening in my life.  The roads must roll!  (weird sci-fi reference) I went to Mental Health First Aid class and Connections Support Group training.  The first is going to be helpful, no doubt.  I'm having second thoughts about doing the support group.  We'll see.  We meaning me and J.  She is not ready to start it up yet, plus May is not looking good for that either.

I'm signed up (finally) to take the Entrepreneurship/Small Business program.  For the first month at least, May.  I'm ambivalent about it.  Part of me would just like to crawl into a hole and pull it in after me!  That part of me is tired of trying and never getting anywhere.  The other part of me is, dare I say it, a little bit excited about this program.  I'll see how it goes.

random photo:

I didn't write all 30 poems for the April poem-a-day challenge.  I think I wrote 17.  That's 17 more than I would have wrote if I hadn't tried.  April never seems to work out as well as the November challenge, not sure why. 

It always helps to write to you.  I've had a bad couple of days, friendship troubles.  They've (sort of) been resolved.  So I feel better now.  Regular programming will resume tomorrow.  I hope!  It was really hot today, around 80 F.  I spent part of the afternoon in the garage reading.  Sending cosmic hugs to you, wherever you are. 

All for now.

Sleep well...

LOVE

Anne

Day 10

Day 10 of 100 Happy Days... reading in the garage on a hot spring day...

Day 9

Day 9 of 100 Happy Days... OK, I'm not happy today... but if I was it would be because it's a beautiful day out my window...

those brown blobs are deer, btw...

April Poem: "Childish Things"

Childish Things

Station wagons

and Jell-o,

Lucky charms

and Kool-Aid.

Sesame Street

and long hot summers.

Peanut Butter and Jelly,

tuna fish sandwiches,

grilled cheese

and tomato soup.

Black and white TV

with no remote,

blanket forts

and castles made out of refrigerator

boxes.

Cinnamon rolls

and chili

in the Elementary School

cafeteria.

Bicycles,

the Roller Rink,

climbing trees,

the art show in Amon Park.

The library full of books,

magazines, and librarians

who said, “Shhhhh…!”

Where have these golden days

gone?

Only memory remains.

© Anne Westlund

prompt:  write an elegy

April Poem: "High Beams"

High Beams

My heart turns over

like a cold V8 every time

I see him.

If I could only get this beast

out of Park and into Drive.

We stall at intersections.

While horns honk and middle fingers

salute, I look over at him.

He shrugs.

He’s too old for this.

What do I have to do to get his attention?

The car alarm goes off, over and over.

He sees the red hair, the brown eyes, the paint job,

racing stripes.

He compliments me on my chrome rims.

Finally, a pulse.

I’ve got his attention.

Shit!

He’s lost in the headlights.

© Anne Westlund

prompt:  write a love poem or an anti-love poem

April Poem: "If I Were Smarter"

If I Were Smarter

I’d care about their bank accounts,

job security.

The women’s magazines, my mother, the TV talk shows

say look for status symbols, shiny trucks,

good shoes.

At the meetings I go to I only meet broken people.

After leaving the meeting I go back to my real life.

What do I find there?

Broken people.

Broken men.

© Anne Westlund

prompt:  “If I were (blank)”