The Difference

by BethAnne Yoxsimer Paulsrud

You say that
when they fought
frying pans flew
out the window.
You had to
duck.
Glass and promises,
loyalties shattered.
You kept playing
in the yard--
although some
nights your father
would wake you
and Johnny
and together you
would drive and drive
far away, sometimes.
You never asked
where or why.

Now--my boys
shudder
at our slightly
raised voices.

The Author

BethAnne Yoxsimer Paulsrud is an American living in Dalarna, Sweden, with her husband and their two children. She is a teacher, translator and linguistics graduate student.