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Under House Arrest

M.C. Rydel

My family and friends are all sentenced to staying home.
They’re stuck wearing monitored ankle bracelets
And they fear sending signals to the cops downtown.
My sister is mixing an elixir that turns blood to gold;
A dear brother-in-law listens to public radio alone.
The kids aloft on high-rise balconies with city views.
Grandma bakes. Aunts and Uncles dance.
My cousin the actor works on his lines.
My buddies chip plastic golf balls into a net.

The judge had it in for us, I say.
I shouldn’t have whistled and ducked
When the bird flew into the garage.
I should have covered up the scent
Of the homemade opium den
With the smoke of a Cohiba cigar.
I should have bribed the bobby,
Convinced the inspector, found a merciful Magistrate,
But it all went bad, so here I am.

Go ahead and dress me in a tuxedo.
Tell my wife it is time for the visiting hours
That this house arrest makes absurd.
Tall and stunning. Blonde in a red wine dress.
The champagne takes the sting out of the occupation.
As we dance all night to In the Mood.
A few celebrities leave in Roadsters or Sedans.
Everyone else is scheduled for a midnight video
Most are in the shower or fixing their hair.

I’m in the house for the next year and a half.
The shingles rattle on the twenty-year roof.
The window seals between the panes are broken.
A clanging, gurgling noisy sump pump.
The flowers and bushes in bloom.
The backboard is loose. The driveway’s cracked.
Segregated, secluded, separated, sequestered,
The quarantine by order of the warden,
I drink some elixir and go to bed under house arrest.

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