James Babbs- Three Poems

My Mother Was In ICU

last night

at the hot wok express

the one over on university

sitting near the window

eating general tso’s chicken

over some chicken-fried rice

not too far from the hospital

where my mother was in ICU

with some kind of infection and

they were talking about

maybe

having to remove part of her leg

I didn’t know what to do

standing near her bed

not knowing what to say

I finally told her

I was going to leave for awhile and

get me something to eat

noticing how pleasant the air was

when I walked out into the night and

I could see stars

even through the glare

of the city lights and

the moon so big in the sky

like something that didn’t look real

Fixing the Garage Door

I just spent the better part of

an hour fixing the garage door

after the pulley on one side

broke apart and allowed the door to

come crashing down and

for a moment I stood there

not sure what I was going to do

but knowing I had to do something

if I expected to get the car out

in the morning so I could go to work

so I managed to find a new pulley

one close enough to do the job, anyway

rigged up with a couple of washers

then the worst part was

getting the cable and spring back in place

see, there are these big springs on

each side of the door that

stretch and contract to make

moving the door up and down easier

and there’s a cable that attaches to

the bottom of the door and

runs through these pulleys

one of which connects to the spring

it’s not really that complicated but

I knew there was an easy way

to do it and a hard way and

I was learning as I went along

trying to put the ladder in the right place

my hands getting covered with grease and

I didn’t want to get my coat dirty

I know I should’ve stopped and

changed into my old one but

I didn’t want to take the time

Another Weekend

I decide to stop at

Casey’s on my way home and

pick up an 18-pack

the older woman with the mop

telling me to be careful

they have some kind of leak and

they don’t know

where it’s coming from

so I walk around

through the next aisle

carrying my beer to the front

looking over the cutie behind the counter

giving me her smile

along with my change and

it’s just another saturday

another weekend and

I’m alone again

heading home

so I can get drunk again

so I can fall asleep again

without taking off my clothes