legumes
January 1
Our family’s latest hope
For a prosperous
New Year
Moving forward
Black-eyed peas
Swollen and plump
But who wants to eat
those nasty beans?

puffs
Glass ashtray
sitting on Dad’s armchair
Always warm
Light goes out on one
As another one is lit
Trace the smoke around
His head and reflected in the
Mirror behind him as he puffs

National Geographic
Glorious images
Precursor to future
Internet surfing
Folded-up maps tucked inside
Like money in a birthday card
This is where my love for maps
Was nurtured
Also the bare breasts
Became my childhood porn

rotary phone
“One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies,
Hello, have I reached the party
to whom I am speaking?”
Ernestine was the essence of
using the rotary dial phone.
At home it wasn’t that simple.
Only one could be
on the phone at a time.
To use it you had to come
front and center in the family
at the crossroads of the den,
dining room and
kitchen.
No privacy.

sharpened pencil
Grandma, why do you
sharpen your pencil
with a knife?
My crossword puzzles
I mean, why don’t you
get a pencil sharpener?
Now, why would I do that?

Today is Thursday, Day 121 in Bahrain’s stay-at-home time, day 86 of The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad. Today’s prompt is by Jenny Boully. She gave a list of words of which we were to choose five. Then write about them using imagery and limiting the use of the word I. I limited the use of I, but I have to work on my imagery.