Em-Oh-Em

Don’t look for me where I once was
I left those wooded glades
cafés and libraries
changed my name
to Em-Oh-Em
steeled myself against vomit and tears
dug in my heels
at the stove and dishwasher
dragged my feet
in the sandbox
followed the poison ivy lined path
to spot Godzilla approaching
or the tiniest LEGO piece
swept under the rug
until one day came the stop sign
and all the long detour
of your growing up—
all the other signs set aside
just to be back in the thicket
of childhood—

To watch now as if from behind glass
the snowflakes shake off
their own snowflake
and the tightly wound bud
of the peony bed
more vivid in memory
now that all those broken petals
are strewn across the front steps