Andrew Hudgins

When I Grow Up

Daddy brings home legal pads,
but Mommy brings home gauze,
used needles, and heart monitors,
like toys from Santa Claus.

Aunt Netty brings us pens from work.
Aunt Ruth on Christmas day
provides our turkey and our tree.
Thank you, IGA!

When his night foreman’s out of town,
my uncle Bobby Lee
drives Daddy’s van to Tune and Lube
and swaps out tires for free.

Some cousin on Sears’ loading dock
shipped us a vinyl floor,
but I can’t wait to land a job
at Kleinman’s jewelry store:

I’ve got my eye on wedding bands
so Dad can marry Mom
or at least not take another date
to Mom’s third junior prom.

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Andrew Hudgins' most recent book of poems is Ecstatic in the Poison, and his next book, Shut Up, You're Fine!: Troubling Poems for Troubled Children, will be published by The Overlook Press in 2009.