A Man and His wife

Stroll into an Ikea
Head straight to the kitchen

Grab 2 cases of Cinnamon Buns
The man carries them in his left arm

His wife grips onto his right arm
To the left she spots a table

The height of a baby who has not yet mastered walking
It is on sale


Three years later

It is propped in the center of their living room
In their 30th floor New York City penthouse for guests to admire

At it sits a baby who has not yet mastered walking
Scribbling with a purple crayon

Her spilt milk blankets the wood
And Honey Nut Cheerios decorate it


Eight years later

Her name is sloppily engraved probably with a fork
In five different places

And on it lies her soccer ball
and her purple shin guards

And her mothers keys that she can never find
and in the center stands a box of Honey Nut Cheerios
That the girl eats before school


17 Years Later

Her cellphone rests on the edge of the table
Five new text messages flash across the screen

Three are from her boyfriend, one is from her friend
And another is from her mother

Beside her cellphone slumps her makeup bag
and her homework which she forgot to bring to school


21 Years Later

The girl is off at college 2000 miles from home
The table stands alone at a dump

To it’s right are eight battered TV’s
Seven of them no longer work

21 days later a man and his wife stroll into the dump
Just to take a peek


Three years later

At it sits a baby who has not yet mastered walking...