When
they marry, they make
their
own vows
and
their own wedding cake
the
cutest couple
a
hyphenated name
a
trip to Jamaica
a
strict budget including
a
hefty mortgage payment
a
promise to each other never to fake it—
—which
they break—
two
children
and
one who doesn’t make it
a
nice dinner every Wednesday—
steak
and baked potatoes or crab cakes
a
few martinis, gently shaken
a
decision to relocate
mostly
for the sake of the children
a
valiant effort to educate them
a
modest take in the stock market
readjustments
along the way
and
some healthy 401(k)s
arrangements
for a parent’s wake
a
quiet cabin at the lake
a
mess or two—
but
no grave mistake
—by
Mary M. Brown
Bio:
Mary M. Brown lives and writes in Anderson, Indiana, a Hoosier not by
birth but by long residence and disposition. She taught literature
and creative writing at Indiana Wesleyan for many years. Her work
appears on the Poetry Foundation and the American Life in Poetry
websites and has been published recently in Christian Century, The
Cresset, Quiddity, and Justice Journal.