by Elizabeth Harmatys Park
Don’t do anything the first year
that you don’t want to do
for the rest of your life with him
Don’t paint anything
Don’t cut the grass
Don’t clean the fish he catches
Don’t wait on him
Don’t let him do the laundry
or everything will come out grey
Iron his shorts and tee shirts
Everything has to be 50/50
Always be out of bed when he leaves
and kiss him good-bye
Freshen yourself up
and put the kids in clean clothes
before he gets home
If nothing else, at least set the table
Don’t take any crap from him
Don’t go to bed mad
And better get used to sleeping
without any underpants on
That one made us laugh the hardest
because we all remembered
when we had no idea
what that meant
Elizabeth Harmatys Park a Wisconsin native, sociologist and peace activist, who writes with Author’s Echo in Burlington. Her poetry has been published in journals and anthologies. She is a past recipient of the Jade Ring First Place poetry prize awarded by the Wisconsin Writers Association.
Portage Magazine 