I respect all women who write. But, before my adoption leave, I confess I didn’t really uderstand the communities, blogs, and social media groups about Moms Who Write. “Being a mom who writes must be hard,” I thought, “but being a teacher of kids who writes is hard, being a nurse who writes is hard-writing is just hard!”
Boy, I was naive. I now know that being a full-time caretaker of a loved one-whether a sweet boy adopted from far away, or an aging parent losing their memory-takes creative energy of its own. So saving precious moments of story making for the page takes special effort. And exhausted is too weak a word for at-home caretakers some mornings! Writing-wise, one upside is that my smiley, mischievous boy has inspired me to jot down a few kid’s poem. Here’s one that I like. Cricket Magazine gently rejected it, but I hope to find it a home someday. Enjoy its squishy messiness. Caretaking is messy and wonderful.
BEWARE THE UGLY BUGGLIES
Beware the ugly bugglies
who crawl up from the dark ground.
Beware their marching feet
invading, without a sound.
They’ll skate out on your ice cubes
and climb up on your cakes.
They’ll swim in your soup
and they’ll dance on your steaks.
Beware the ugly bugglies
who creep and crawl about
for once your drips and crumbs
have brought them in,
you’ll never get them out!
