2021 Poetry Broadside Submission @ 18: THE DAY I FINISHED MY SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE APPLICATION By Jamie Lynn Buehner, Douglas

THE DAY I FINISHED MY SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE APPLICATION
By Jamie Lynn Buehner, Douglas

The turtle that showed up and disappeared in equally mysterious ways
did not make a good bedtime story. I know this, told it anyway, and was put
into place by my daughter.

I spared her the retelling of the recurrent childhood dream
in which I thought I lost my way: her dad, who was supposed to
put her to bed, is better at stories.

Counselor says to ‘bookend’ traumatic events;
here was today’s: my cup of coffee to go /
the nurse’s discovery of a lump on my left breast /

-TIE- the Rusted Root song at the drive-in with my daughter
and my son, who has no idea how long these things take
asking Are you a teacher yet? every time I come home.

Scroll to Top