Yesterday, yesterday
No suitcase
The dull glint of handcuffs
Pajama pants
Police don't carry nightsticks in the morning

Tomorrow after tomorrow
After another tomorrow
4th grade
5th grade
6th
"A Wrinkle In Time"

Today
It's today
No suitcase
Unbound musculature, several scars
A shaved head
Barely recognizable
Anger
Pure, invisible, yet tangible, anger
Cut-off jeans
Prison don't make you look pretty

Summer
Dandelion seeds and robin redbreasts
Sticky, sticky, blue fingers
Melted popsicles
Treehouses and black-eyed susans
Black-eyed Momma
Daddy, don't go back to jail

Fall
Late bells
Traffic
Tardy notes
A solace, a safe haven, a book
"Alice in Blunderland" is still "Alice in Rapture, Sort Of"
Incomplete homework
War cries, muddy shouts, and broken dishes
Leaves- red, brown, golden yellow- leaves
Burning, smoking
Ashes
Maniacal laughter
Jack Daniels behind the toilet, atop the TV
Weekend disappearances
Empty refrigerators weigh more than empty hearts
A gun
A new scar
Daddy, don't go back to jail

Winter
Paper snowflakes and boots filled with newspaper
No electricity
Heat is a luxury; sweaters are cheaper
Moth-bitten wool scarves
Aint no sun in the city
A red F because triangles need three sides, not two perpendicular lines
Santa Claus was never real
Drugs over daughters, booze over brides
Cheap perfume, stolen kisses, borrowed money over freedom
A Benz from a friend
Selling all around the block
Taut seatbelts
A petrified preteen in the passenger seat
Vodka in the cup holder
Sirens
Daddy, don't go back to jail

Spring
Light
Chrysanthemums, tulips, and other pretty flowers
Clean dishes, new dresses
A good-paying job
Money saved, not spent
Electricity and other such luxuries
Mothers are prettiest when they're happy
Food
Three meals a day
Library books
Pink curtains
Green shoots and and a used Toyota
A red A because consequences can be blessings, but they still aren't synonymous
Laughter
Life
Love
Acceptance
Daddies go to jail so that we can be safe