With scissors she finishes
Curling the last ribbon;
Placing each curly-cue
In just the right spot,
Not too much, not too little
The perfect amount to say
"Hey! I love you, and I made this for you,
And sliced my thumb open with the scissor blade-
Sorry for the bloodstains."
And standing back, admires her work.
The true proof of her accomplishments
Is not in the perfectly packaged cookie bouquet,
But in the line of flour that streaks
The milky white plane of her forehead-
In the sugar crystals that shimmer in her hair,
And the green food coloring under
Each manicured fingernail.