... in response to (8/6/99)

The following is a reader's revision of Barbara Mohr's poem, "Not a Vain Thing:"

A teeter-tot
tips a tiny toddler
off her seat,
a delicate balance
betrayed by a
misinterpreted
squeal --
of joy
that inspired
fear and a jump --
and the squeal finished
a squawk
as Nefertiti's eyes
filled with tears -- not of selfless sympathy
but of pain --
not from metaphorical
sentimentality --
but from fright --
Lorelei watched
confused
as Barbara Mohr came to the rescue;
herself filled with compassion;
the children merely innocent --
balanced upon this allegorical teeter-tot
until together they look
and see in their neighbor's yard
a ferris wheel --
"I want that, Mommy, I want that."
The echoes of a thousand little voices,
and only two have Barbara Mohr
to reveal to them the magic
of the teeter-tot.
The rest grow up and
try to jump the fence --
or burn it down --
or war it away.
"I want that, Mommy, I want that."
Spoken so sadly natural.