Another Day on E Street
 
Raccoons in the chimney.
Joey stole a car.
Mother’s saying rosaries.
Father’s at the bar.
 
Another day on E Street,
it hardly seemed bizarre,
but the cops who came to see us
thought it quite irregular.
 
They questioned me and Kelly
for hours so it seemed
and peered about our little home
with eyes as sharp as teeth.
 
The two of us knew nothing—
just kids as they could see—
we’d spent the day at school we said
and returned home at three.
 
Our mother was religious,
our father overwhelmed,
our brother just a teenager
impressing some new friends.
 
We were quite safe and happy
we reassured those two
though when they finally left for good
we hid with the raccoons.

Mary Beth Hines

If you have any thoughts on this poem,  Mary Beth Hines would be pleased to hear them.