Thursday, April 18, 2024

National Poetry Month: "Floorboards" A Poem by Mark M. Dean


Floorboards

4/14/2024
by © Mark M. Dean

I’ve always prided myself on my exit plan

My daily routine

Sliding out of bed with the utmost stealth

Not to wake the true love of my life

Who truly loves waking to the birds softly calling

The sun gliding up on the eastern horizon

Peaking in to see if you’re awake

like a child on Christmas morning

Collecting my crumpled-up PJs from the bathroom floor

Still smelling like beer

popcorn husks along for the ride

I’ve made it to the door

the dog lifts one eyelid and settles back into her pillow

Houdini is almost free

The bedroom door swings to its designated position

a noiseless accomplice to the escape

Selecting my route down the long wooden hallway

Knowing the walled edges are less boisterous

Slowly I step onto the thin ice,

Sifting my weight from heel to toe as I stalk my prey…

Silence

NO, NO, NO!

The floorboards are in a jovial mood this morning

Belting out a loud chorus of “Halleluiah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”

Imitating the St. Patrick’s Cathedral chorus on Easter Morning

I hear my love shift, the dog perks up

The floorboards continue their “Ode to the Morning”

I head for the coffee pot

my plot foiled

But hope springs eternal

As I make a date with the floorboards

The challenge accepted 




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