the lair

the bedroom of my
richest recollections
was perhaps the worst
of all in which I’ve
lived and slept.

it all depends on your
measuring stick.

“It’s ugly!”
10 year old me
screamed through tears
as dad drove
away from the house
that would
soon
be
home

everything was green
ceiling to floor
olive,
avocado,
my grandma’s pickles
when they didn’t seal quite right.

‘mid century modern’
might put a chic spin on it now
if not for the ubiquitous verdancy

I exaggerate, but just a bit
not everything was green.
the second bathroom,
pink commode
comedically cramped,
belonged to
“the boys”.

and I haven’t mentioned the bedroom yet

my room
our room
was the result of
a decorator’s demented design.

The first thing you notice
is the lions

…

an epic expanse of
formidable
feline faces
watching you
walking in

a panorama
of panthera leo
peering
preying

Just one wall
beyond sufficient.

iwillneversleephere

Here is where my memory
may fail to serve me well
I was ten or eleven, you may recall
everything seems bigger when you’re small

and hysterical

those visages.
no royal benevolence to be found,
not in these kings of beasts.
stern
cross
hungry
a little pissed off

and each one
16 inches square.
I realize that’s not a
very poetic measure.
I lack an expressive word
for the length between
“a foot or so” and
“ginormous”.

About That Size.

mom says no,
but I swear they were textured, too.
featured that fuzzy feeling…
flocked?
unfortunate.

Little more to say about the wall
your mind can fill in the gaps
but know this:
I’ve left few gaps.

Now, for the carpeting.
I’ll keep it brief

you need to know why
this room was
– is –
my favorite.

not because of the carpet
indeed, no.

imagine a shag
two, three inches, black and red
all you need to know

Thank you, haiku.

How did I get
from a 10 year old’s tantrum
(legitimately leveraged)
to cherished chamber
of childhood?

a brother

counter-intuitively,
the move to the new house
pulled us from our private pens
and cast us into communal containment.

at first,
we fought
ferociously
argued
angrily

but slowly,
somehow,
subtly
serendipitously
we finally
forged a
firmly framed
friendship.

allies against the
angst of
adolescence

boys becoming men
and all that it entails

lions be damned
we loved the lair.