We are moving from the Buffalo area to Wisconsin, as Lex has been called to a new church. Lake Edge UCC offers Lex new challenges, and the Madison area is alive with cultural possibilities. Only sad part, leaving St. Paul’s UCC, Lex’s first church, and Attica friends who have become family to us… Peace, Amy
MOVING
All day I lay paralyzed
Panic-stricken by the massive undertaking
of a major move
The task is like a ton of marble
meant to be chiseled
reshaped into shippable form
The more I chip away
the farther the flotsam flies
Last chance to cherish tsotchke before unpacking again
Now the room is a frenzy of
forgotten details, floating memories
Taunting bytes of mislaid input
Cable movers – nail down days
Valium for the cat, pet-friendly motels
Electric stop here electric start there
Change car rental ALL insurance
Ensuring my mental collapse, or at least
a surging synapse
Graph paper at the ready, grid lines map
our new home – orderly oragami
I’m so anal it’s damned convenient for the movers
Around 4 pm I am clueless in clutter
cup of decaf by my side and
comforting cat on my lap
Then a skitch of that endless marble flicks my face
Embedding itself in my ear, burrowing
into my brain. The cycle begins again
And who the hell moves from snowy cold Buffalo
to blizzard-ridden frigid Wisconsin
And in mid-January, yet?
I’m blaming God, who is laughing Her butt off in Heaven
After all, She issued Lex’s call to ministry, and now She chortles,
“I’ll get you, my pretty… and your little cat, too!”
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
Regina Star
I love your poetry Amy. Reading it I always feel the real experience!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks so much, Regina. Can you feel how cold I am right now, ha ha ha. Hope you didn’t get the flooding in your neighborhood… love, Amy
RJ
Tsotchke? You really are verklempt about the upcoming move, eh?
Seriously, an excellent poem which really gives the feel of what you are going through.
Sharp Little Pencil
Not only am I verklempt, I’m practically shpritzing already!!!
Thanks, Randi. And congrats on knowing what tsotchke are! Amy
Debbie
I loved the ending, Amy! Praying for you though . . .I can’t imagine moving like that. Don’t want to imagine it either. ha!
Had to look up tsotchke and verklempt. 🙂 Thanks for growing me!
Sharp Little Pencil
Debbie, I grew up with musicians, so I actually knew more Yiddish slang than my Jewish first husband! Part of the biz, I guess…
I have done 10 or 11 major (household) moves since I was 34. I have it down to a science. Perhaps someday I’ll write a little chapbook about THAT!
Take care, and thanks, honey! Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
I love God laughing Her ass off in Heaven. Brrrrrrr………it all sounds very cold. Cold here too today, thinking about snowing. But we have SUN, which is glorious. Hope that soon you are in the new place, beginning to settle in and it all starts to feel like a Very Good Thing. (I am at the age where tsotchkes run a very real risk of being off loaded to the Free Store………)
Sharp Little Pencil
Sherry, knew you would get a kick out of God’s being a She. Actually, I believe God is beyond gender, but it’s nice to mix them up.
One of my many missions in life is to come up with a gender-free reference for God. Thee, Thou, and Thy works… until you get to pronouns, where it’s always he and she. Almost thought of They, as there are so many facets to God… creation, human spirit, environment… in which case, it would work fine, except for by the Book Christians, Jews, and Muslims, for whom the concept of The One True God holds such meaning.
We are sunless here but warming. Have to get a pic of myself and the 20-foot snowman down the street before the temps reach 50!!
And yes, many dustables have gone to friends and to the rummage sale, but some are simply irreplaceable, like my stock of three-legged pigs from Ten Thousand Villages! Ha ha, I have a secret love of pigs, except when they are in Washington screwing up the govt. Amy
rallentanda
Perhaps you should reconsider changing to a more mover friendly deity?
Sharp Little Pencil
Gee, I’m counting on backup from the Holy Spirit, who is entirely mobile. Truly, God has no gender for me anyway. I just like to mix it up!
Any other deities, feel free to pass them on. I will take them into consideration – see, I’m one of those open-minded Christians!! Peace, Amy
Jae Rose
I am sure your little cat will love the snow! Moving is like ‘chipping marble’ you’ve captured the stress of it all perfectly (though with your usual humour and humility)..I wish you much luck for your move.. a few weeks and all the cables will be untangled again and order can be restored..Jae 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Jae, I bless you for your optimism. Too bad Gable is a house cat – besides, he doesn’t really like the outdoors. He’s a confirmed inside guy, best view of snow when perched on the back of his daddy’s recliner, looking out the window and snickering at the foragers, because his food is in the bowl!
Thx for coming by! Amy
Nanka
That was a fun poem for me to read but must have been tough for you to change to a new home in the middle of winter. Valium for the cat and decaf for you LOL!! “I’ll get you, my pretty… and your little cat, too!” is the most hilarious line in the poem and the imagery created is simply so comic. Love the poem immensely!!
Sharp Little Pencil
Oh, thank you, Nanka. And the worst part is, I’m still packing!!! The movers don’t come for two weeks or so, and some of the biggest challenges lie ahead of us, but we’ll get through it. I’m more worried about our cat, Gable, than anything, because that’s a long trip for him… Thanks for recognizing the Wizard quote; it’s one of my all-time fave movies!
Peace, Amy
Leo (Leonnyes)
I think its the third or fourth time I’m coming here, and every time I’ve left admiring it, and feeling it through your words.. Nice..
My Survival, for Sunday Scribblings – Progress
Sharp Little Pencil
Leo, I followed your link back to your site and commented there. Now I’m suggesting that ALL who read his comment follow that link and do the same! What a gorgeous piece of verse! So as for you, young man, I’m a fan, truly. Thank you for your gracious words. Amy
Mary
Oh that’s great! And we know She has to have one hell-of-a sense of humor! Good luck with all that, and welcome to Wisconsin!
Sharp Little Pencil
Mary Bach, are you a Wisconsinite? We simply must hook up. I’ll be in Madison, and you have my contact info…!
And yes, although I always hesitate to assign God a gender (believing the Creator to be far beyond those constraints), I think the lack of a gender-neutral pronoun for animate beings is a distinct problem with the English language. So I alternate between He, She, and…. um… yeah, see what I mean?
Tammie Hefty
Are you still in the Madison area? Me too! BRRRRRR…..