We all wanted to hold it,
the glassy remains of mom’s
wedding vase.
It should never have leapt off the edge of the counter
as we runwayed ‘round the kitchen.
But, somehow it had
and now, it would never hold flowers,
although I don’t remember it ever holding
anything.
“Take it to the trash, already,”
she complained
between the puffs and ashes
of my childhood.
All three of us dived towards the precious,
pulling and twisting
handfuls of hair
tangled limbs like rubber bands
twisted wild beauties
fighting over their mother’s scraps.
My older sister came up with the prize,
her birth order unfair advantage.
She cradled my mother’s hopes
in her long fingers,
sneering and spinning,
raising the treasure over her head
before taking off through the yard,
a prize pony on her victory lap,
braids bouncing behind.
We never saw her fail;
the spike of glass through her leg
but we tried to towel up blood,
shades of red forming a rainbow–
fear on a frozen lawn.
I smiled when the sirens arrived,
revenge tattooed on her thigh,
stitches an unhatched cocoon of failure.
The same that followed her through
dropouts, knock-ups, and lock-outs.
But, I was the second daughter
learning to bide my time,
learning that first doesn’t always mean best.
Yard Sale of Thoughts 
another terrific poem with some brilliant images: ‘prize pony on her victory lap, braids bouncing behind’ is just one; I look forward to your posts —
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Thank you,John. Your incredibly kind words boost my confidence. I look forward to your posts as well.
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My mom was middle. Elder sister, younger brother. She used to say that she always got the blame!
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I mostly got ignored. Which was probably a blessing. I remember I tried out for a part in the musical, my parents couldn’t believe I got it; they didn’t know I could sing. They were always surprised when I did something ‘great.’ Many examples of this….I was a bit invisible, I guess.
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I started a pjilosophical comment but it got too long. If they ignore you now it is surely their loss?
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It didn’t really do me any harm. Being the middle kid means being well-adjusted. 😉
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So that’s where I went wrong!
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If you’re an example of going wrong, I wouldn’t want to be right. 😉
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