by Mark LaMonda
I say that I am a person who does not make lists,
yet I find them occasionally on my kitchen counter,
in my own hand.
I forgot to add water to the vase.
The flowers are dead.
There is beauty there,
in the vase of dead things.
There it is – Third item on the list – Add water to vase.
Lists. I hate them. They are making me a liar in my own poem.
The thought occurs to me –
I can add something to the vase
that makes the dead blooms look intentional.
So much of my life is the smoke and mirror
of beautifying my failures.
You aren’t suffering from imposter syndrome
if you are indeed a fraud.
Add eucalyptus, pampas grass,
perhaps a sprig or two of lavender
to the vase with dead flowers.
Visit mom in hospice.
Write down two positive memories you can share with her.
Mark LaMonda is an artist and writer who lives in Santa Clarita California. His work has appeared in California Quarterly, Painted Bride Quarterly, Lullwater Review, and is forthcoming in Tough Poets Review and South Florida Poetry Journal.
January House Literary Journal 
Leave a comment