Margaret Hasse Verse-Virtual 2016 July

July 2016

I grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota, and was educated at Stanford University (B.A., English) and the University of Minnesota (M.A., English). I started writing poetry when I was a child and never stopped. For the past thirty years, I’ve lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where I teach and consult with arts organizations on their plans and programs. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate in receiving some awards for my poetry, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. My fifth book of poetry, Between Us, will be released in 2016. Visit my website at www.MargaretHasse.com

Homework

Six foot one, and still he grows
portends the pediatrician studying
an X-ray with my boy’s plates
still un-fused, milky millimeters apart.
Now that I look way up at him,
my authority over his bedtime shrinks.

Ripe as a plum, his skin is not so
dark as to cover blemishes —

a dash of pimples across his cheek
and a single blackhead,
tiny tack at the tip of his nose.
I’m itching to pop it! — squeeze
the dirt out with my fingernails,
grooming like a mama baboon.
The very idea would gross him out,
as in totally.

How to give up the job I know totally
of reminding him to brush his teeth,
of braiding his hair in corn rows,
of dancing with him when he wore
his first suit and tie
to learn the two-step from me.

What he lets me do now is provide
food and homework help as long
as I stay on my side of the table.