the battle lines have been drawn
and my aunt is winning. The other sisters
and in-laws have been feuding for the title of matriarch
in anticipation of my grandmother’s
impending demise, tending to her still-breathing corpse
like well-intentioned vultures, cultivating grace
with an open hand to the crown,
back on the home front, my mother
frets that I don’t take on as much visible
responsibility as my sisters-in-law do
that I’ve slunk into the background
way too much. My husband
wonders why we always get family news
last, blames his busy work schedule
our overwhelming kids.
I tell him
we’re holding down our own fort
that if something important happens
people know we’re here to help. I plan
moves to foreign countries, send résumés
to far-away companies, long for the day
when there’s distance between my family
and the melodrama of the front lines.
Holly Day is
a travel writing instructor living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband
and two children. Her newest book is Walking Twin Cities (Wilderness
Press, 2009).