Saturday Poem: 'Balance Sheet'
May 9, 2012 2:20 pm
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The student loan, two part-time jobs, the degree,
the sales plus commission. The paychecks,
the payments, the end-of-month economies.
The promotion, the "paid in full," savings.
The ring, the wedding, the honeymoon in Cancun.
Two cars, two-car garage, two kids.
The 12 percent returns, the bonus.
The home-equity loan, the pool,
the braces, the new roof, Las Vegas.
The maxed-out cards, the fights, the cancer.
Two years of chemo, home health aides,
the anguished resignation, the lifetime limit.
The yard sales, the tanking market, the foreclosure.
The welcome from the parents, the thanks-giving dinners,
the morning chores, the corn, the recovery.
Pamela Curtis, an analyst for the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, lives in Point Breeze. She is part of the Madwomen in the Attic poetry workshop at Carlow University.
First Published February 25, 2012 12:00 am
First Published February 25, 2012 12:00 am
