There I am out running with the ten year olds My brother’s crying, the neighbors say he’s out of control Wednesday night church choir singing about the fiery coals Mama’s rocking him gently In a weary chair If I close my eyes I am there My uncles are sitting in the corner playing dominoes The hot summer mud is caked between all of my toes Through a torn screen door a black thunderstorm blows Mama’s shelling peas In a weary chair If I close my eyes I am there Tupperware women are laughing in a neighbor’s house Bertha got a closeout deal at Gibson’s on a new pink blouse Daddy went drinking with Christmas Club money then passed out on the couch Mama pours iced tea From a weary chair If I close my eyes I am there Granny’s kitchen smells warm with devil’s food cake Uncle Jimmy says go get his cane his foot’s starting to ache Roy Rogers is on the movie at four and none of us can wait Mama comes from the carpet mill Gives me a kiss from a weary chair If I close my eyes I am there It’s three in the morning in a time zone not meant for me I move through a corporate apartment click on cable TV How far have I wandered in search of what I wanted to be Mama’s picture rests Beside a rented weary chair If I close my eyes I am there
