Between college and the Army
I had some time to kill at home
And discovered quite by chance
That my parents watched soap operas.
They tried to make it look accidental.
“Let’s see what’s on,” my dad would say
As he turned to the channel
That carried their story,
And the afternoon coffee
Came to a boil in an aluminum saucepan.
Now, at 83, I wonder what our girls
Have figured out of their parents’ lives,
The rituals of two people
Together almost sixty years,
An accrual of idiosyncrasies,
Toast sliced in thirds,
The favourites bookmarked
On the internet of our lives.

Robert Demaree is the author of four book-length collections of poems, including Other Ladders published in 2017 by Beech River Books. His poems have received first place in competitions sponsored by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire and the Burlington Writers Club. He is a retired school administrator with ties to North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Bob’s poems have appeared in over 150 periodicals including Cold Mountain Review and Louisville Review.

You can find more of Robert’s work here on Ink Pantry.