SIDERIUS SHORT POETRY
COMPETITION, 2024
I gave her dessert afterwards if she tried it;
I stuffed her high chair tray with everything good
(to me), then left so she could savor in quiet.
That crafty child played cool ’til I wasn’t watching,
then flung all those morsels to drooling Bombur,
already a pudge, with my interest in snacking;
picture a sumo wrestler, swathed in brown fur.
Excited by my kid’s adventurous palate,
I dished out okra, avocado, and eggplant--
it took me a few weeks to realize that
our dog had begun resembling an elephant.
One day I heaped the tray with all sorts of morsels
then held my ground, watching my child like a hawk.
She knew that I knew; delighted with herself,
She screamed with glee, threw her hands up, and whooped, “Walk!”