Alternate Universe

She lives in
an alternate universe
Not so far away
Actually across the street
My daddy is a millionaire
Byes me anything I want
Her Father is a writer
And loves her with all he’s got

The whole school knows me
And follows every where I go
A few at school love her
And take her any where they went

My clothes from Nordstrom and 5^th Ave
Hers from Good Will and hand me down rags
High school: cheerleaders and jocks
Hell school: broken bones and rocks
My name is Mandi
Hers Di-man

College a disaster
My world doesn’t come
On a golden platter
College a blast
A place where she
isn’t just last

Life where I just don’t fit it
Life where she finally belongs

To high maintenance
For men to look at
Men come easy
Toys to play at

Spoiled brat now I see that
But for her life is free

He brought me home-picked flowers
for my birthday
Diamonds, jewels, and fancy dresses
Were her forte

My heart is an artist
And loves me with all he’s got
Her money is a lawyer
And byes her any thing she wants

Our first apartment
one bedroom with mold
Their first house
six bedrooms with gold

My kids clothes Good will and hand me down rags
Her children’s from Nordstrom and 5^th Ave
Work is play and he’s home by 5
Work is life and home is at work

Stay at home mom
and I don’t mind
Banquets and luncheons
She left the children behind

Our kids off to college
Visit every once in a while
Her children to college
Text when moneys to low

My artist and I stay quite at home
Her lawyer is off to do who knows

She lives in
an alternate universe
Not so far away
My kids are all grown
but I am not alone
Her children all gone
but she never would have known

My life forward
And her life backward

Born with money and not care in the world
Born with care and not a thing of money
Died with love and not a cent to my name
Died with cash and not a love to proclaim

Lime Green Peanut Butter

A Pantoum

Lime green peanut butter
Aloof in my bed
Cheerful happy clutter
Stuck in my head

I, Aloof in my bed
Building a wall of blue
Stuck in my head
Around indestructible you

Building a wall of blue
High and fine and big
Around indestructible you
Real as a winged pig

High and fine and big
Started where you lost
Real as a winged pig
Thought you were the boss

Started where you lost
How mulled the world can be
Thought you were the boss
Now I am free to see

How mulled the world can be
With cheerful happy clutter
Now I am free to see
Lime green peanut butter

Why do all the best ideas come at two o’clock in the morning…

Or on the Toilet

We all think in why’s and what’s

But what if we thought in ifs and would bes

Like what if….

If….

stars were our personal guide

Where would mine lead yours

If…

love were a pocket full of sun shine

Would yours fit in it to mine

If…

dreams were as easy as Pairs Hilton

How special would they be

If,

if

if

Not

When

Or

Where

But if…

If…

thoughts really only cost a penny

I’d cash in all mine just to hear all yours

If…

one liners could win a girls heart

That’s all I’d ever talk in

If…

hearts beat like the radio

Would the world listen to them play

The announcer would say:

Now, from the heart of Susan Mical, ‘My toast is burnt and I’m late

for work’

But would we stay

And listen to mundane

Would we flip from heart to heart till we find the sound we like

Only hearing what we want

Not what needs to be heard

Or what if…

If…

my loves heart beat where my sun shine

Would I keep it in my pocket…

If…

Kermit the Frog were here

Would Miss Piggy still come running

If…

karma stole candy from the candy store

Would it hit itself in the back of the head and yell

“Bad Karma!”

If…

if

if

if

If

if love were a pickle

Would you eat it

If…

tears could move mountains

Would the natives be angry

As the Himalayas move from Asia to America,

the Andes to Europe

And the Rockies to lost Atlantis.

Would the world stop crying to keep the earth still

If…

ideas came exactly when you needed them

…if only…

If…

words made a difference

Where would this poem end up

If...

we all thought in ifs and would be’s

Would the world fill up on empty how’s and could be’s

Or would we all see the wows and yippees

If…