[themify_box style=”gray note”]Summer has unofficially hit the Rocket City, and with it comes parenting challenges. A local poet and writer’s day job is also one familiar to many of our readers – the job of Dad. Benjamin Shapiro shares a poetic parenting perspective on water fun, kids at home, and boredom busters.[/themify_box]

Last Day of School

The last school bell has rung,
Backpacks all are hung,
Tennis shoes skitter
And crumpled papers litter
Hallways for the last day,
As kids run away
From work and tests,
Summer’s the best.

Summer Memories

Sweat beads,
Scraped knees,
Mud pies,
Tired eyes,
Long days,
More play,
Water guns
Tons of fun
Sunscreen
Happy screams
Ice cream
Summer dream
Cloud gazing
Sun blazing
Memories filled with joy
For every girl and every boy.

Not What I Expected

Putting sunscreen on
Topless girls isn’t the same
When you are a dad.

Summertime is Here

Summertime is here,
Happiness and cheer?
They’re already bored
And won’t do any chores,
And they are fighting all the time
Tattling on each other’s crimes
While my brain gets so fried
I scream at them to go outside.
Last five minutes and the whine,
“It’s hot outside,” they storm in cryin’
I give them water, have no pity,
“You’ve got grass, I grew up in the city,
You have a yard, I ran the streets.”
I yell as rain begins to fall in sheets.
Defeated tv is turned on,
One is singing a terrible song,
I send them both to their rooms,
The sound of silence. Impending doom?
I check on them, one is napping,
Two is with pretend friends, yapping,
It sounds like it’s been a bad day,
I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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