Whoopi and My Mother
- Whoopi and My Mother
My mother never makes me copydown the definition of obnoxiouslike Allison Jenner's mother makes her do.
All weekend in the computer room —chips and salsa, Häagan Daz, textbookswith doodles in the margins.
Whenever my mothercomes in, I cut her off.Mother, please — stop speaking!
This morning my motherreturns from the grocery storeand says Guess who I saw?
I'm expecting the Jenners or the Levinsbut it's Whoopi Goldberg, and for the nextfew minutes it's Whoopi this, Whoopi that.
My mother never insistsI be home by midnight, never shrieksYou want another snack? Fix it yourself.
I wish you' d been there she keepstelling me. Whoopi was so funny.But all I notice
is my mother is calling a celebrityby her first name — as if the familiarityworked both ways. Glued to my AIM
and onscreen porn, I can't even saywhat she came to hear — Yes I agree.You and Whoopi would make great friends. [End Page 58]
Michael Homolka's poems have appeared in publications such as Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, and Poet Lore and are forthcoming in Indiana Review, New York Quarterly, Notre Dame Review, and West Branch. He works in book production at Simon and Schuster, volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters NYC, and holds an MFA from Bennington College.
