Slice of Life: Day’s End

When her children were small,
evenings were busy and full.
Dinner on the table before exhaustion set in.
Baths and stories,
boys in their blanket sleepers,
clean and snuggly,
clamoring for stories and lullabies.

Years went by.
Swim meets and soccer practice,
boy scouts and music lessons.
Dinner later and later.
Rushing seemed their only speed.

Then one of those boys left for college.
Fewer games to cheer at,
mountains of laundry eroded to foothills.
Soon enough, both boys were gone.

Now she is greeted
by a fluffy orange cat,
purring and happy to see her.
The house is quite.
Nowhere to rush to.

At times,
the silence of her empty house
made her feel
superfluous.

But most of the time,
she welcomes the peace at day’s end.
In the kitchen, no longer rushed,
she finds pleasure chopping onions,
slicing carrots,
keeping time with the dripping rain.

© Catherine Flynn, 2015

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each day during the month of March and on Tuesdays throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.