Julie Steiner

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Kyrielle

Mom’s a French repeating form:
go-to phrases are her norm.
When something’s yanked her verbal chain,
follow patterns. Think refrain.

Calls begin I’m so upset!
When you ask, if all you get
is You know why!, engage your brain.
Follow patterns. Think refrain.

Scan your skull for what you did —
the felony that flipped her lid.
Baffled? Since she won’t explain,
follow patterns. Think refrain.

You always pull this crap, she’ll scold.
When evidence that’s decades old
blasts you like a hurricane,
follow patterns. Think refrain.

Yes, she galls, but not from spleen.
Though she’s petty, Mom’s not mean.
Aspies (when emotions strain)
follow patterns. Think. Refrain

from lashing out. You’re Aspie, too—
trust in rules to see you through.
When she drives you half insane,
follow patterns. Think. Refrain.

Say as little as you can.
I was wrong’s a decent plan.
(Though lying goes against your grain,
follow patterns: think refrain.)

Julie Steiner is a pseudonym in San Diego. Her recent work (including verse translations from Ancient Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian) has appeared in Literary Matters, The Ekphrastic Review, The Asses of Parnassus, The New Verse News, and Light. She has just entered her third decade as an active member of The Able Muse Press’s online poetry workshop, Eratosphere (https://www.ablemuse.com/erato).