Vicie Ree aka Auntie_Social
@vicieree.bsky.social
#vss365
I said, buy something for the baby and some flowers too.
Deep down I knew..
No #gift bag? No card?
I sigh. It'll have to do.
They thanked us for each item in that flimsy Target bag, and for the single hydrangea bloom.
I tell you,
"they were only being nice,"
when we leave the room. #vss365
First it was Mama.
Months later,
Daddy followed
One by one,
we grew #distant.
Headed for extinction
My sister's words,
"We never need speak again,"
brought the #quietus of siblings
Estranged. Endangered.
I'm now a conservationist
building a greenhouse for a grafted family tree to thrive. #vss365
Society shifted after the #consuming.
People I've known all my life became the uninvited, #forbidden from crossing my threshold.
We are prey now.
I will never be predator.
At nightfall, I bolt my doors and don my cross.
I wait until #dawn. Only when sun touches my face do I feel safe. #vss365
Our home was a moral #deadfall,
luring the wicked and the lost.
We lived on a dead-end street,
across from the saints of Pentecost. #vss365
From Prometheus' kiln,
a seed is shaped
life from earthen clay
#Evermore and ever again,
in the week of a God,
some graced by sunlight;
some scorched
From father's #cradle
to #Mother Earth,
We are dusted
Wirh humanity's #horrors
Until one day,
by the will of God,
we return to earthen soil #vss365
Two fingers
a silent signal: V
#Victory.
Pearly smiles and winks changed its meaning from peace to something lascivious.
I followed the glances
from boy to boy,
then to their common target,
selected each spring.
This year, all eyes were #falling on...
My sister.
Her first day on campus. #vss365
Let it roll, let it roll, let it roll.
CRAP!
The money was gone—
my rent,
my car payment,
my cab fare.
Flush one minute,
destitute a second later.
"It was a #gamble."
"If I'd won,
we would be set."
"Next time..."
Waiting,
I practiced each lie,
not knowing
I'd already lost her. #vss365
You speak of the moon
as if it were magic—
#midnight or blue,
moons often prove tragic.
Midnights are endings;
I long for beginnings.
I dream of dawn,
the birth of a new day—
someone to wake beside me,
someone who'll stay. #vss365
We enter and leave this world in helpless states—
our #primitive birth and our #wondrous last breath.
Between them is life:
childhood, love and regret, triumph and failure, friendship, grief, and joy.
In death, two dates are carved in stone.
Between them— an em dash. #vss365
The elevator door opens, and I shiver—
a #remnant of one of Mama's stories.
Vague lore, passed down from her father.
A nameless aunt.
A little girl racing into an empty shaft,
falling to her death.
In every mirrored surface,
I wear her fear.
"I'll take the stairs,"
I tell my co-worker. #vss365
The floor is lava—
bubbling with secrets
that burn the brave.
Our rooms are islands
we've become castaways
dreaming of rescue.
Denial lives down the hall,
sabotaging every escape.
Silence feeds the #rift.
The floor is lava.
does anyone know
that I am lost?
The floor is lava. #vss365
Does air have #gravity?
the breath I hold in my chest,
my lungs refusing to expand.
I am hungry for air,
yet full of a heaviness
that cannot be exhaled.
Is it the moon?
tides of emotion pooling,
pressing against a dam
that will not budge.
My heart is heavy,
and I am afraid
it will burst. #vss365
I am my mother's daughter
skilled in using subtle #signals
never asking outright
denial masks my desire
humble refusal hides my longing
I inherited my mother's grey eyes
and ageless complexion,
and I feel her demure disappointment
with every nonplussed "no" #vss365
No matter how far I travel from its edge, Mama's words still echo through the ever-widening #crevasse that separates my sisters and me. #vss365
People don't like you
because …
This was the lullaby of my childhood—
judgment cast upon me like a hand-me-down sweater.
I was too skinny. Too fat,
Too pretty, ugly, stupid, smart,
Too good—
and not good enough.
I learned to
#immerse myself in #judgment—
taste everyone's sorrow,
and joy. #vss365
When she's safely out of sight, she reaches into her handbag, retrieves her Uncensored-Red lipstick and applies it to her naked lips.
As soon as the car turns the corner, he pulls his phone from his inside pocket and opens the tracker—his digital #tether. She is never really out of sight. #vss365
In my parenting garden
I planted ideas
sowed seeds of protection
Words blossomed
their #intent defined by the butterfly
You did not accept the flowers I offered;
to you, they were weeds; #betrayal
Now in each fleeting visit
each turning season
that day #lingers
among the flowers I offer. #vss365
After the divorce I became
“one of those women”
dancing barefoot in my midnight kitchen, cooking to satisfy only myself.
In the wild I was #luminous—
a firefly attracting attention,
awe, and envy.
No longer domestic,
I became #feral
with a firefly freedom that's both perilous and fleeting. #vss365
Eyes become a desert,
#barren with age.
Blurred words drift
like dust storms
across the page,
leaving me irritated.
Isolated. #vss365
Can you see...
that I've opened the email?
how many times I've read your words?
“Do you have any regrets?” you ask.
Regrets?
No. I have none.
Shouldn’t you have asked
if I had #forgiveness?
Even so, I don't have that either;
I only have acceptance…
for what once was,
and what is now. #vss365
Our life was as #unalloyed as the silver coins jingling in Daddy’s pockets—grifted from jukeboxes and pinball machines.
We had everything and none of it was ours, but Mama liked to brag as if it was.
Mama’s silver keys opened doors to a ghost town; we were already ghosts. #vss365
Before you I was all whimsy,
a fluttering petal poised for flight,
time whiling away from me,
be it sunbeam or starlight.
You offered a heart etched by #diligence,
a treasure map where love is found in routine:
my morning alarm, a hot cup of coffee;
my day ends drifting into your arms. #vss365
Preparing Lethe’s tea
for #evenfall,
when lamps are lit
and stars rise to fall.
Sipping oblivion before
your ghost appears
at my door,
to pay his nightly call. #vss365
On Mother's Day
saudade memories,
of selected scenes.
I am #haunted by
shadows of my inexperience
and aborted apologies.
Painful edits,
rose-colored filters,
and #fleeting butterfly-smiles remain.
Always unprepared,
timing is never right,
so much I want to say,
...but it is off-script. #vss365
You say #misfit;
I say intent.
My life is a puzzle
missing its box.
Missing pieces.
A chaotic collage—
bits of him. And her.
Inherited this. Learned that.
Like your tattoos;
deliberate. #vss365
Songbirds bathe
on a manicured lawn,
fed Costco seeds and millet.
In a wild of sunflowers,
kittens prowl,
bells jingling at their throats.
In the stillness of twilight,
a #dewdrop clings
to a bleeding heart.
On a manicured lawn,
returning vultures feast
on another choir of songbirds. #vss365
Mama feared water
judging depth
at a safe distance
Daddy walked
at edge of ruin
Brenda tested the waters
only getting her toes wet
Wanda #dove headfirst
So beautiful
no one let her drown
Debra floated by—
a rotted limb
Tim was swept away
before he learned to swim
These were my teachers #vss365
Between salutation and closing,
I search for affection:
no #dear, no sincerely.
I look for #moonbeams,
for silver linings,
or constellations.
Between three lines
is empty space.
No regret. No forgiveness.
Drifting thoughts,
drafted on a paper plane,
float into my in-box.
I reply in kind. #vss365
Her puddled eyes
darted from Daddy
to Debra
then me
I read, you hear that?
Soft grey flashed black
Her neck snapped
from sister to sister
I was invisible
She levitated with a #phantom #fury
screeching, howling, shaking
“What'd you do?
What've you done?”
All #affection washed away #vss365
My mama gave me her mama’s #name,
my daddy gave me his.
Then I threw them away
like a first draft
when I married you.
You renamed me Mrs.
Mrs. You.
But I was your first draft.
Now there’s another
Mrs. You,
and I wonder
who I am. #vss365
They call me trash-kitty tabby,
I’m a fierce mixed-breed baddie.
tiger stripes, #lion mane—
wild blood,
I can’t be tamed—
and this roar? yeah—
got that from my daddy. #vss365
The morning Mama passed
I saw a shooting star—
now, I think it was #lightning,
the kind that strikes on a clear day.
The same year Daddy’s flame flickered out.
We were bickering orphans
in a #dichotomous home,
sorting memories, dividing crayons—
chosing sides by the color of our love. #vss365 1 of 2
I’ve lived a millennium on this moon-dust mote,
navigating odyssey after odyssey.
Part of the cosmos, I am a #lunar #tactician
sent to prevent colonialist exploration.
You have called me Static Electricity,
believing I could be contained; #vss365
Ginny Jo was a wish
on everyone’s lips
in whispers & whistles at night.
Wolves on the prowl
they know, somehow
poor Ginny, so pretty, so slight
Moon-eyed dogs howl
stray #cats all mew
warnings lost in the night
Ginny opened her door
to a poet’s sad song
and vanished before morning's light #vss365
Muscadines fall in the river,
impersonating rain
A gray cloud muscles in,
creeping across the sun.
Bottom feeders gather,
lured by sweet, jammy rot
The red-and-white bobber
bounces, bobs, sinks
#Fishing line goes taut—
whale-heavy weight
Bloated, tangled body
turns a perfect day dark. #vss365
A mutton-fat goblin on a mammon throne—
in his hands appear the sun and moon.
His dragons slain long ago,
their #jade scales are river strewn.
Now ruby-eyed #wolves keep watch,
herding pilgrims in dream-walk sleep.
Goats climb the mountain wanting more,
and fall as sacrificial sheep. #vss365
Mama warned me
but I went to you in defiance
I called it free will.
Mama said “shameful girl”
when I went to you
out of spite, or vanity.
I think of you
sink to my #undersea hideaway
get drunk on my tears.
I think of Mama
I call you Hades
I never say your name. #vss365
I have a bag of #trickery
tucked inside my purse.
I can tell your fortune.
I can cast a curse.
So before you scorn me
or do something bad,
consider what may happen
should I go mad. #vss365
It came
not with marriage,
not with motherhood,
or divorce.
My #investiture of adulthood:
a ceremonial transaction,
a signing,
an exchange of keys.
I was rewarded
for my audacity in believing
I could do this,
on my own. #vss365
Unaware of Helios’ desire
a maiden slept
alabaster skin
burned by Hades’ ire
Anemoi’s gossip winds
whip up jealousy
Klytie, Helios’ lover
casts a girl to sea
Poseidon swallows her
His hunger to be sated
salt #seafoam roils
wave after wave
she washes ashore
wanted no more
as the gods fated #vss365
Vibrations in the floor signal:
look up! look up! look up!
a #hammer striking an anvil,
ringing a silent alarm.
Motion at the edge of my vision
scattering bodies,
contorted faces,
panic.
a danger I can't hear. #vss365
When we sisters gather,
a feast of emotion is served.
Each #word brought to the table
sits indigestible.
Spoiled memories
roil and rise.
We are gut punched
and heart sick,
old and orphaned.
No one reminds us
to stop fighting,
that we are sisters. #vss365
Lost in a #loop
your #letters arrived
answers to questions
never asked
I fill my glass
from the tap
stand at the #sink
sipping tepid #water
If I look up
there are blue skies
birds #sing
The faucet drowns it all
I sip, swallow
drink an empty song
keep my head down
lost in what went wrong #vss365
I wear shoes in my yard
because I know
snakes ignore fences,
bees hide in clover.
I temper my speech
because I know
the sting of mama’s hand,
the ache of my daughter's tears.
I am no longer #blind to dangers lurking—
because I have known monsters,
because I have been a monster. #vss365
A boat gently rocks beneath the moon
dark ripples wake the shore
young love succumbs to la petite mort
and rocks the boat once more.
Entwined bodies drown in desire
each swimming for the #bank
Venus rises from the bayou
while her Adonis sank. #vss365
The prison #ink down his #arm told the story of his life: from the #hand of a clock fixed at his mother's time of death to a single grain of #sand suspended in an hourglass.
He slipped the class #ring over an arthritic knuckle, and with a chained #pen he signed the release form. #vss365
I believed
in falling star wishes
& fairy-tale knights
Then you appeared
ordinarily handsome
dressed like a cowboy #man
Your eyes reflected my future
Your arms held me steady
Your kiss broke fantasy's spell
I woke from a Disney dream
to find a real-life hero
a dad-bod husband
my true love #vss365
Mad King Midas—
with a golden curse,
everything he touches
is made even worse.
Congress of sycophants
can’t play nice—
#exalt his #conduct,
don't know virtue from vice.
Silver-spoon-fed babies
flexing their birth right
they're all sandbox bullies
crying “unfair!” when they start a fight. #vss365
She passed away
from this earthly realm,
born anew
into fairyland.
She’s now a #sprite,
a garden fae,
her gossamer wings
in full display.
I saw her
bossing a honey bee,
remembering
how she used to be.
A pink tea rose
she wants painted red—
so you see,
she isn’t dead. #vss365
I am sick,
burning up
with spring fever.
My delirium of daydreams
#revolve around love:
#illusive love,
forever love, true love.
I am incurable—
a romantic,
hopelessly in need
of your kiss. 
