once upon a time
in the middle of the night
   lived a hunting deer
      who shot back—

   old clothes, knitting needles,
      trophies from years past
      won so excitedly
   silverware     china with a
     special pattern
garage sales are memory sales

   michael's birthday was last
     week
   Julia and Jennifer have theirs
on the same day
     but I missed that, too
   Susan and Aunt Barb
     share one next week—
August, the most difficult
      month
is it really so hard to
   send a card?
     Hallmark's new slogan
      I should remember to
     starve myself of sleep
   before attempting poetry