There's A Dinosaur
Posted by Martha & Greg Singleton , Tuesday, March 22, 2011 7:53 PM
There’s a dinosaur on my coffee table
Lurking right there behind the stack of imported trays
Piled with very expensive artificial apples and pears
His lumpy green plastic head lifted as a silent roar escapes his lurid mouth
I think my living room has never looked more lovely
There’s a dump truck on my kitchen window box,
Headed straight for the antique ceramic salt and pepper shakers,
Two metal star molds lying askew in its wake
With a plastic kid from the Fisher Price bus stuck underneath
An arrangement I find wonderfully uplifting in the morning sunlight
In the guest room, where one dark cactus green wall accents the deep gold of the others
And picks up the desert reds and rusts and blues of the designer spread,
Woody and Buzz Lightyear dominate from the Toy Story 3 sheets that cover the air mattress on the floor
And I think this might be the best room in my whole house
Precious clutter
Put there by a beloved little boy
Who will not play these games, with these toys,
For more than a moment
Before he moves on, with a speed that catches parents by surprise,
To Little League, and computer games, and first cars and first dates and dorm rooms and first jobs
And very rare visits where he makes his bed and hangs his towel and leaves by Sunday afternoon.
I know how this story ends, with perfect décor, and every detail in place
And empty drawers and closets with plenty of space
So now, I wander through the rooms my grandson left, taking pleasure in seeing how he played
Knowing that the hours he spends in joyful adventures at “G-Diddy’s house”
Are among the greatest treasures I will ever own.
