Nonfiction by Mary Lewis
It is exhaustion and euphoria. You often think you’ve figured it out only to discover more layers. Plot twists are a recurring theme.
It is tiny fingers grabbing tiny toes. It is the squawk that jolts you from sleep. And the soft sigh you hear as you pat, pat, pat. It is crawling out of the room, holding your breath, don’t make a sound! It is snuggles and belly laughs that are contagious.
It is extensive conversations in an unknown language. Neon rainbow tutus, action figures and playdough with all the colors mixed together. It is elaborate “shows” in the family room. It is walks that are short, but become long because someone needs to be carried. It is peas up the nose and stitches. It is Go Fish and fights about wearing tights. It is the feeling when you lift your face and sun hits your skin.
It is conversations about outer space, why, and what’s for dinner. Longer walks that become even longer because you have to go back for a Band-Aid and the bike has to be carried. Sports and friend dilemmas. Pick-ups and drop offs. It is forgetting about the poster board for the project until Sunday at 9PM. It is equal parts exasperation and admiration.
It is conversations about everything and nothing. Dating and dances and driving. Curfews. It is waiting up, worrying, wondering. The door opening that jolts you from sleep and the soft sigh as you kiss a forehead. It is Uno and fights about emptying the dishwasher. It is planning, choices. It is preaching and lessons learned. The jokes are on you, but you treasure those laughs. It is heart swelling, tears in eyes, so proud. It is pain, and it is joy.
It is so much joy.
Mary Lewis is a Behavior Analyst who stopped analyzing behavior so she could write about her own. Her poetry has been published in Maya’s Micros and Scapegoat Review. She loves French fries, her family, and the feeling she gets when the words fit together just right.
