U is for Unis who swam with a dolphin

U is for Unis who swam with a dolphin
04/24/2008 - National Poetry Month post #27, part of The Unlucky Twenty-Six

The parents of Unis von Nike McPhage
read every new book on the shelf named "new age"
and they made lots of notes and they dog-eared each page
to make themselves wise, sagacious, and sage.

They tried crystal healing and and also Feng Shui
and took yoga classes almost every day
and had their palms read and by a monk in Bombay
and bought a remote mountain shack getaway.

They went to a class for serene meditation,
refused to see doctors or take medication,
and held a brief seance to revive a relation,
and read Tarot cards to attempt divination.

They thought that the stars could tell them their fate,
and magnets might make their aches disintegrate,
and they looked to the Buddha to illuminate
the vast universe that seemed just too great.

And poor, little Unis was carried along
to each family field trip, for right or for wrong,
and she had to sing every ridiculous song
in the hopes that her spirit would grow mighty strong.

When Unis was three, she was brought to a school
where her parents thought it unbelievably cool
that Unis could swim with dolphins in a pool
to help her soul shine like a most precious jewel.

And Unis, she loved it so much that they bought
a little stuffed dolphin she cared for a lot
and she slept with it, held it, and named it Dot,
and she never cared if it got covered with snot.

When Unis was five they all went on a ship
with vacation in mind--they all needed a trip,
and the cruise ship sailed on at a glorious clip
while alongside, the dolphins jumped up with a flip.

While Unis watched from the deck's metal rails,
her mom was inside having work on her nails,
with Dad at the bar slugging down lots of ales.
Dot fell from her hand and she let out loud wails.

The dolphins leapt out of the water in glee
and Unis was sure that among them she'd see
her little Dot playing and asking that she
jump in there and join them immediately.

One of my writing goals for 2008 is to write at least one light verse or poem every week in addition to my haiku wednesday and fiction friday posts. I will try to do this on Mondays.