At the grocery store
checkout counter
my mother never failed
to toss in the weekly
copy of Woman’s Day
Mostly lighthearted filler,
celebrity gossip,
horoscopes, stories,
recipes, tips about life
from wrinkle prevention
to mothering,
saving money, and
the perfect combo of
spices for pickling

Even then, as a young
girl, I knew I didn’t want
to grow up to fit into that
template of a woman’s day
but I do remember one
article that made me
see differently and the
vision stayed permanently

The article started with
photos of a gorgeous blonde
Peggy Lee and was built
around a current hit song
and its affect on Lee’s life path
“Is that all there is?”
That was my thinking!
There had to be more
and I wanted it

From that day
something inside me
started expanding
imagining how I would
design my life
on my own terms,
my perfect woman’s day,
where I would live,
who I might love.

My mother has long
since passed and
I never thought to ask
what were her terms
to what life did she aspire
when she read
her weekly Woman’s Day
I wish I had seen her
differently and honored
her design her choices
for her life a lot more