some days in our summers away from school
as children, there were times we would act the fool
I remember my mama would always say
you both know better than to act that way
Then after she couldn’t take it anymore
she looked our way and said out the door
if you can’t get along, then go outside and Duke it out
so the rest of us can have some peace from your shouts
wrestling was her way we would settle our issue
it set a precedent with a whole summer in view
we were not allowed to slap, punch or bite
my mother ordered us to keep it a clean fight
you used only muscle to pin our sibling to the ground
we kept it up round after round,
trying to block out all other siblings’ sounds
by the end of our wrestling session
we had somehow learned a valuable lesson
our bickering and fighting were fruitless
the result, we might come up toothless
My mother knew what the result was all along
She wisely maneuvered us and played us like a song
To some, Her words Duke it out might seem bad
Believe me; It was better than getting a whipping
from my dad
it also paved the way for us to have some of the
best summers we ever had