Marci Rae Johnson

The Rules

1. Fake Momma: The player designated as "it" must stretch both hands out in front of her body and walk around like a robot after the other player, saying, "I am your fake momma." 1

2. Salami: Pour water on a table. Soak up with paper towels or napkins. Repeat as desired. 2

3. Deet-Deet: Each player holds one end of a security blanket. Players proceed to march around the house saying "deet-deet" as loud as possible. 3

4. Cakey Face: Player one pretends to have a very dirty face and must chase player two around the house. 4

5. Helen Keller: Oldest player attempts to teach basic school skills to youngest player, who pretends to be blind and uncooperative. 5

6. Liver in a Stew Pot: Youngest player must lie perfectly still and quiet on the floor like a piece of liver being cooked in a stew pot. 6

 

1 Only wake real mother from her nap if the house is on fire. ^

2 Don't forget to clean up your mess when you're done. ^

3 Don't yell if mother is taking a nap. Please wake mother up from her nap only if the house is on fire. ^

4 Do not play with an actual dirty face, or you might get the couch dirty. ^

5 Play repeatedly after watching "The Miracle Worker" on TV. ^

6 Oldest player will proceed to her room to finish reading her new book, the activity of which youngest player interrupted with loud demands of "play with me." ^

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Marci Rae Johnson holds an MFA in poetry from Spalding University. She is founder and director of The Poetry Factory reading and workshop series at the Box Factory for the Arts in St. Joseph Michigan, and is the Web editor for After Hours, a journal of Chicago writing and art. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in The 2005 Rhysling Anthology (The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Poetry of 2004), the anthology New Voices and New Visions: Religious Writing from Rising Generations, Christianity and Literature, Strange Horizons, and The Poetry Kit Magazine (UK).