Practicing Phrases

You remember your father
retreating from work each day 
staggered by the office lingo
ringing in his ears, profit margins,  
losses and gains all to be dealt with
by sleeping it off on the couch
the TV subliminally supplying
an alternate life.

You remember your mother
dabbling in different languages
practicing phrases
while flinging coffee grounds
down the garbage disposal
always waiting for something
the phone to ring
the mail to come
the chance to trade places
with someone.  

Because of this
you avoid drowning men
who claim you as a rescue   
you do not wait
to change identities
your mail rarely
catches up with you
and you practice phrases
while sipping coffee
in foreign places.

Lynn lives in Madison Wisconsin and is a singer/songwriter as well as a poet. His latest poetry collection is These Little Scenes from Fireweed Press. He has served as treasurer and regional vice president for The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. He was on the board of the Madison Songwriters Guild and still performs occasionally around the Madison area.