The clock in the hall marks
each drowsing hour,
and the housecat keeps watch.
Tucked under a warm blanket
and pastel sheets, I sleep and dream.
In the morning, there’s coffee
and quiet conversation,
here with my family that isn’t blood
but family the same.
We’ll sit on the porch in the sun
and watch for the rabbit that lives in the yard
as it travels its wild route
through the garden, under the steps
where the tulips will bloom,
and up on the deck, to stand
and watch us, twitching its velvet ears.
Looking me over,
learning who I am, adding me to the roster
of who is welcome here.
Carolyn Adams’ poetry and art have appeared in Steam Ticket, Cimarron Review, Evening Street Review, Dissident Voice, and Blueline Magazine, among others. Having authored four chapbooks, her full-length volume is forthcoming from Fernwood Press. She has been twice nominated for both Best of the Net and a Pushcart prize. She is editor and publisher of Red Shoe Press, and volunteers at The Book Corner, a non-profit used bookstore run by the New Friends of The Beaverton City Library.