Compromise — A Poem

Messy room
sorting through piles
Jeremy found
long lost pocket watch
remembers playing lawyer
or was it president
needed the stopwatch
to start the war
or was it the race
Putting more clothes away
trying not to feel guilty
should he confess?
Or should he slip it under
little brother’s mattress?
Angels and devils
and Father Ryan’s face
turn into his history teacher
the lady with the almost
visible mustache.
What should he do?
Dad was so angry
That made him afraid
Dad was so sad
That made him guilty
Put away the last micro machines
And the Power Ranger wristband
With triple light cuffs
What was the word mom used?
Compromise.
Yes, that was the word.
Find the middle
like the filling of the Oreo
Half and half. In and out.
Compromise.
Jeremy took the watch
sneaking into dad’s room
hid it between the mattresses
leaving the chain dangle
just a little
so mom would find it
when she made the bed.
Then it wasn’t really lost.
It never was
The lawyer had it all the time.

~Claudia Anderson, 2011~