white picket fences spike
sharp edged gardens
full blown roses follow upright tulips
a serpentine hose dribbles across grass
you can see through a window
no-one is watching tv
but it doesn’t shut up
blurred figures fight
there are gunshots while
mother quickly tidies up
clears dishes from the table puts
last night’s chop bones into the bin
pours pink detergent in the sink so
the peanut butter jars will sparkle
by the time Dennis parks his truck
a tray will be laid
his slippers arranged
in front of the chair
the cat is warming
Channel 7 news will be on
his lunch time visit to
Mrs Brody’s blue velvet rooms –
upstairs in the local pub –
will have soothed his nerves
given him an appetite for
Friday’s meal of leftovers
and a stubby or five
he can settle in
without even switching channels
or wondering what mother did today.
MARY JENKINS was born in England in the Great Depression years. Mary's education was
basic, interrupted by the war and her evacuation to Wales. Gough Whitlam gave Mary her life-changing educational opportunities. She
completed a PhD in Tasmania in her seventies after living and travelling in France, Switzerland and Sweden. Her varied life experiences
include work as an au pair, a policewoman, a matrimonial court officer, as a model, a casual university lecturer, an associate builder
in Cohousing and a home builder … amongst other things. Mary Jenkins now lives and writes in Tasmania. Her poetry collection
Short & Sometimes Sweet was published in July 2020 by
Ginninderra Press.