Judith Viorst

I'd planned to be Heathcliff's Cathy,
Lady Brett,
Nicole or Dominique or Scarlett O'Hara
I hadn't planned to be folding up the laundry In uncombed hair and last night's smudged mascara,

Happiness Is a clean bill of health from the doctor, And the kids shouldn't move back home for more than a year, And not being audited, overdrawn, in Wilkes-Barre, in a lawsuit or in traction
Happiness Is falling asleep without Valium, And ha...

If I were in charge of the worldI'd cancel oatmeal,
Monday mornings,
Allergy shots, and also Sara Steinberg
If I were in charge of the

I'm learning to say thank you
And I'm learning to say please
And I'm learning to use Kleenex,
Not my sweater, when I sneeze

They let the children out of school too early
I left the Christmas shopping till too late
Each day we had a holiday excursion,
Which gave us the entire week to wait in line

The answer to do you love me isn't,
I married you, didn't I
Or,
Can't we discuss this after the ballgame is through

I wanted small pierced earrings (gold)
You gave me slippers (gray)
My mother said that she would
Unless I wrote to

The honeymoon is
And he has left for
Whistling something obvious from La
And carrying a brown calfskin attache caseI never dreamed he was capable of owning,

I've had my share of necessary losses,
Of dreams I know no longer can come true
I'm done now with the whys and the becauses
It's time to make things good, not just make do

At three in the morning I used to be sleeping an untroubledsleep in my bed
But lately at three in the morning I'm tossing and turning,
Awakened by hypochondria, and gas, and nameless dread,
Whose name I've been learning

It is true love becauseI put on eyeliner and a concerto and make pungent observations about the great issues of the
Even when there's no one here but him,
And becauseI do not resent watching the Green Bay
Even though I am philosophi...