Daily Poem 22/30

One early morning
as I lay in my bed nursing
I heard the cat's meow
simply sounded friendly
until I heard the squeaking
and then I really woke up.
Our toddler and I peered
over the edge of the bed
yelled for Daddy
he caught the mouse gently
Baby and I freed it in the woods near work
just moments after
an inspector came to assess our house.

It was a big day.

I asked for a big promotion.

I'll get it if I do some big work.

In a meeting I told
the mouse story
"I mean, how often do those two things happen
in one morning?" I asked. "My husband told me to get
the mouse off the counter before
the inspector comes in."
Everyone laughed. Then they asked why the cat doesn't kill the mouse.
I explained that she was a sweet lap cat
who doesn't kill
"She just runs alongside the mouse," I said.

Later I picked up my toddler from school.

All the moms were talking about how much they hated their jobs,
how they were going nowhere
just wanted to stay home with the baby
(any excuse to stop, just stop trying---it IS hard)
I came home exhausted
toddler in arms
wondering if I can do it all
or if like my cat I just bat ideas around
I felt so tired I almost could not move

But there on the dining room floor lay a dead mouse.
We crouched over it
"This mouse is dead," I told her.
"Dead," said my baby. We looked at it whole,
the cat looking on proudly.

Later we buried it in the yard.

-About Thursday August 12, 2010