Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine

 

First Joke
by Karen Robichaud

 

Perfect you
Were slurping down the squash and chicken conglomeration
As fast as I could spoon it
Hesitating only to wave your arms
Like a mini maestro
Orchestrating Allegro! Allegro!

 

I was enjoying this duet

 

Then Splash
Capriccio!
Your errant fist knocked my ice water onto my lap

 

After my shriek

 

A fresh recital emerged
First a giggle
Then a chortle
Then you threw your head back for a full-fledged guffaw

 

A lovelier tune
Mozart could not compose   

 

 

 

 

Karen Robichaud fell in love with poetry in seventh grade. The lyrics of Bob Dylan inspired Karen to stop watching “Days of Our Lives” and start stringing together awkward lines. By senior year T.S. Eliot intimidated Karen to such an extent she no longer experimented. A new day dawned on Karen’s poetry. Her oldest son became her muse in utero. Karen Robichaud is four months pregnant and the mother of two young sons. She is a kinesiology adjunct professor at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. Karen taught English for eight years and then coached cross-country and track at Lipscomb University for two years. Her previous work includes her dissertation: The Effects of an Exercise Intervention on the Psychological Well-being of Postpartum Women, and an essay in Tennessee Runner, “A Distance Runner’s First Manicure.”