Noah Soltau: "Wednesday Morning Over Frozen Pancakes"

Wednesday Morning Over Frozen Pancakes
 
My daughter asks    If you were 25 again what would
you change      Regret burns my throat        last night’s
bad decisions       I tell her I don’t know        I don’t tell
her some days        today          every choice feels like a
mistake       Marriage profession education each step
backwards the wrong one      I don’t know what to do
I barely know who to be               I tell her I’m not sure
what would be different                  I don’t tell her right
choices are a matter of scale      Every day    today   is
filled with mistakes misfortune until it’s not      Every
day is full of favor felicity until it’s not             I tell her
to eat her pancakes         I don’t tell her nothing good
is easy            The world will break your heart anyway
Maple syrup glistens bright cold sunrise     time to go

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Noah Soltau teaches about art, literature, and society to the mostly willing. He is managing editor of The Red Branch Review. His debut collection of poetry, Titanfall, is forthcoming from Madville Publishing. His most recent work appears in Cutleaf, Door is a Jar, and elsewhere. He lives and works in East Tennessee.