Summer Afternoon 2 Poem by Charlotte Ballard

Not spent with feet up, and lazy
Wind beckoning to come
Play the game...
Floors need tending,
Dishes need washing
While clothes languish in
The dryer- almost two days now.
The baby's crying,
Loud, insistent, face
With tears and snot, and
Mouth open wide
What's for dinner, dear
Mom, where's my top?

Only, only, when the completion
Of each job, the top found
Dinner completed, baby hushed
With bottle heated.
Does the wife of ten years training
Sit outside, letting the breeze knock off
Bits of corn silk, and of green bean anchors
Her hands tired, drift down
Her eyes lift up, hoping for a storm
To sooth the heat -there
Every morn.
Her work done, she rests-
Only a moment there.