THE KEEPER

by Kelly White Arnold


An aviary of kindergarten papers
has flocked to my dining room table
and herds of small-person shoes
stalk the savannah of the living room floor.
If you come visit,
don’t investigate the sofa cushions
too closely–
no telling what has slipped
into that sanctuary this week.
(Once, we found a full-sized hammer
hiding there amid a murder of feral
M&Ms and desiccated popcorn kernels.)
And the toys have escaped
their enclosures entirely–
a pandemonium of Polly Pockets tangles
with broods of Barbies and their accessories,
aggregations of childhood games missing pieces,
schools of neglected sporting equipment–
it never ends.
Peace and quiet,
an endangered species
around here these days.
Somehow we were gifted
a whirlwind
for a fourth child
and she makes our home
an impossible zoo.


* * * * *

Kelly White Arnold is a mom, writer, high school English teacher, and lover of yoga.  When she's not scribbling in notebooks or wrangling teenagers, she's planning her next tattoo and daydreaming about traveling the world.