Home Alone

Lucy shares her

breakup music mixtape

tries to teach me

healing rituals,

like pouring milk

directly into the carton of ice cream.

Nice try, porky.

Crystal swoops in,

taking my side against the dog-guy

she warned me about.

We have an all-out

Menstruation Celebration

when my late period finally comes.

Flush with most joyous Ka-swoosh!

I set off on a spontanious solo

road trip home

cathartic screamcrysinging

the whole way, ignoring

fellow traveler’s stares.

Arrive to find

Lewis sheet-rocked the basement

with the fixed fireplace

moved Christopher down there.

I stay in his old room,

with only one window

and stacks of Marvel comics everywhere.

A gaping dirt hole fills the side yard,

for a new swimming pool

a smooth-walled

square-cornered cavity

with an eight-foot drop to the bottom

so wide and so deep I could drown in it.

The whole house bustles around me.

Cara and Chris in high school

with friends

nobody needs

a ride to soccer.

Wiener dog puppy

accepts my affection but

doesn’t know me.

Follows Lewis.

My family renovated

with new hope and fun

a sense of purpose and ease,

but somehow forgot to leave

space for me.