Cold Coffee

I take a sip of hot coffee and sit at my computer.
There are ten new emails and a Facebook feed to check.
My friend posted pictures of her kid's birthday party.
My rent is due tomorrow!
I hear yelling and swivel in my chair
To see my daughter yanking her car
Out of her brother's hands, and he begins to cry.
Then the phone rings and the washing machine chimes
And my daughter wants to play dolls with me.

Soon both kids are hungry, so I give them a gummy snack.
I put my forgotten coffee in the microwave to heat it up.
Then we play Follow the Leader and walk in circles to the couch
Where my son insists on having a pillow on his lap
And my daughter asks to watch The Magic School Bus.
I grab my coffee from the microwave and take a sip.
I crush some candy and feed the dragons on my phone,
Then rush to stop my son from eating spilled food off the floor.
He wants me to play with his cars. Beep Beep! Crash! Let's race!

The dryer beeps, and my son helps me put the warm clothes
Into a basket. Then he cries when I say we're done
Because he can't push the button to start an empty washer.
Not long after, it's time for lunch and my daughter wants
To eat the same foods she had yesterday and the day before:
Cheese, pickles, pepperoni, and strawberries with orange juice.
After they eat, I cuddle with my son and put him down for a nap,
And my daughter plays quietly in her room with Legos.
I go back downstairs, eat my own lunch, and clean up more dishes.

I see my Pinkie Pie mug sitting on the counter next to the sink.
It is half full of forgotten cold coffee.
I dump it and rinse it and start all over again.
I turn on the Keurig, pop a k-cup in the machine, and fill it with water.
I place my mug on the tray and press the brew button.
I add two spoons of sugar and some milk to the coffee and stir.
Then I take a sip of my hot Hazelnut coffee. It's perfect.
I sit at my computer. I check Facebook. I check my email.
I hear my son crying from his crib and my daughter calling "Mommy!" from her room.
I get up and walk upstairs, leaving behind my hot cup of coffee,
Knowing by the time I remember to drink it, it'll be cold.

Written by Candace Shultz

The Hairy, Scary Spider

When I was growing up, I often wrote stories with my sister Cassandra. I have fond memories of writing a little book of poetry, short stories, and songs with her. Unfortunately, we lost that book and most of our writings from childhood. We moved a lot, and something always gets lost when moving homes. Now that we are adults, we both continue to write: she writes a lot of short stories whereas I've been writing mostly poetry (though I'd still like to write short stories and a novel eventually). Like me, Cassandra also writes stories for children. She self-published her first book: The Hairy, Scary Spider. It's a children's story that she wrote and illustrated.

You can see some of her work at her blog: cassandralynnmiller.blogspot.com. If you're interested in purchasing The Hairy, Scary Spider as an eBook you can find it at this link: https://payhip.com/b/RK7p. 

Dust Catcher

This thing catches the dust so it doesn’t gather somewhere else in the house.


It’s big, but sneaky and quiet as a mouse.


No one ever sees it working so diligently,


Hanging onto the dust for dear life,


Never wanting to let go,


Knowing the dust will be ripped from its arms again and again.


It just wants a friend.


Written by Candace Shultz


I wrote this poem based on a swap I joined on swap-bot.com. I had to pick the 7th book from my bookcase and turn to the 7th page and choose the 7th sentence to be the first line in my poem. I chose Thing Explorer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe. Here is the 7th page for reference:

Slumber

I hold you in my arms,
your soft cheek pressed to my chest,
and we rock gently back and forth.

Our breaths slowing with the beat of our hearts,
I hum a lullaby and stroke your hair
as we rock back and forth,
back and forth.

You press deeper against my skin,
your eyelashes fluttering shut,
your breath becoming softer.
And as you slumber I hold you close,
rocking back and forth,
back and forth,
back and forth,
until I too fall asleep.


Written by Candace Shultz

The wind blows gently.
It whispers.
It gusts.
It whistles through the trees.

The leaves shake.
They wiggle.
They dance.
They wave hello to anyone who watches.

The bird flies with the wind.
It watches.
It listens.
It settles on the leaves of a tree.

The wind blows.
The leaves shake.
And the bird lifts its wings,
Ready to fly with the breeze.

Written by Candace Shultz

Torn

Divided.
Broken.
What went wrong?
Eight years gone
Like they never existed together.
A deep black pit grows
Where his heart used to be.
His love turned to hate
In the misery she shaped.
The silence between them stretches.
Just one word, one whisper
Might shatter the fragile worlds
They've created apart.

Written by Candace Shultz