NO drinking, smoking, swearing
Running, jumping, loud voices
wearing of shoes, lying abed, locking of doors
eating in between meals, these were the rules
we followed in the
minimum security house
Grandma on guard, except
during soap operas, Brad and
Eleanor, their warped children, warped lives;
she cooed and smiled, frowned
told evil Denby off, tsk-tsked under her
breath over the
slut, Wendy
my brother and I
ran free
like colts
until commercial break
she sprang up out the chair
chased us down to
deliver a slap or
the strap or
something else the
kids on the soap operas
never felt.