Blog Posts

I remember riding with Mom on the
bus to Wheeling, my two sisters and I

all dressed alike. Mom had made us
sundresses from material she had

bought at Murphy's. It was lime green,
imprinted with gray and white kittens.

We sat together on the long back seat,
unidentical triplets, as Mom beamed

at us, her lovely daughters all dressed
alike. Looking back, I don't suppose I

would have proven to have been an
ideal model as she pinned on a pattern.

Always the tomboy I would have been
the one itching to go outside and play.

I would have fussed and fidgeted, while
asking her over and over when was she

going to be done, as she, in her quiet
demeanor would have done her best to

stitch me close to her heart, to tie up the
loose ends so I wouldn't come unwound.

© Betty Bleen 2018
www.toocutetoboop.com

0 Comments

by Betty Bleen
www.toocutetoboop.com

I started a diet today

Saying, this time I really mean it!
Then my children asked me to bake a cake,
And of course, I didn't want to disappoint them.
Really, I couldn't.
That's how I am,
Eager to please my family,
Desiring to give them what they want.

And so,

Determined to stay on my diet
I said I'll just have a little taste.
Eventually
This little taste led

To another, and another until
On my plate was a big piece of cake
Drizzling with icing.
After I ate it I thought to myself,
Yeah, tomorrow I'm going to start a diet…

0 Comments

My body is no longer the flawless manuscript
most men would take time out of their busy day
to read, no longer as exciting as the latest novel
nor as interesting as the daily news.
There was a time when everything was capitalized
at all the right places, the i's were dotted and
there were no uncrossed t's.
Everything was worded right.
Sentences had the appropriate emphasis and titles
fit me perfectly.

Now, I am more like the comics and even some
of them aren't funny but rather tragic.
I was beginning to think I was of no more use
than a rolled-up newspaper used to swat flies.
But then you found me.
You read the manuscript, overlooking the flaws.
There is no need for spell check, you accept me
as I am.
My words come off of your lips in the form of poetry,
and in your eyes I am the sonnet I had always
hoped to be.

Betty Bleen
www.toocutetoboop.com

0 Comments

In the photo my mother is beautiful.
Though it is in black and white, I picture her
cheeks rosy as pink Chablis.
Her hair cascades thick and wavy to meet
the soft slant of her shoulders covered demurely
in a dark dress I imagine, a shade of red.
She is smiling coyly for the camera, as if she is
the keeper of some secret, about to spring a surprise.

The couch she sits on is splattered with clusters
of tiny white blossoms.
Behind her the wallpaper is enmeshed in huge leaves
pointing skyward; between each two leaves is a
single flower.
The floor linoleum is a characteristic 1950's pattern
of multicolored and sized diagonal stripes.
In the photo my mother is a constant, in surroundings
I can only describe as busy, and so she has been
for most of her life.

The photo was taken after mine and my older sister's
birth, before those of our siblings; before school days,
dating, marriages, children, divorces, grandchildren and
all forms of crises imagined or real which have
transformed her once vibrant brown hair to gray,
strand by strand.
Long before wrinkles claimed her face, Arthritis
wreaked havoc on her joints, Osteoporosis settled
in her bones.

In the photo my mother is beautiful.
She is poor but happy, innocent and trusting,
hinging on a promise, glimmering with love.

0 Comments

By a fountain in Columbus, Ohio we sit side by side
listening to a jazz band. Recently acquainted we came
to the festival not as dates but, as we both told ourselves,
friends. The Columbus skyline is a perfect backdrop-the

sky so blue and wide, dotted with puffy clouds, the yellow
sun sparkling off the water, dancing in the windows of
downtown buildings. It is a perfect summer day but the
only heat I feel comes from your body so close to mine

and your blue eyes, bluer than the afternoon sky. My heart
is doing flip flops sitting this close to you as you study my
face, my smile, as if it were a memory you were making
to keep. The crowd around us is clapping to the music,

chattering, laughing… but all fades into the background
so intent am I on what you are saying I find myself leaning
into you, surprised that you are leaning into me. A few
people get up to dance and you hold out your hand, but I

am too shy for that. Instead, I toss my hair over my shoulder,
laugh at something you say, your smile so warm and inviting
I want to stay here forever, this close, under this perfect sky,
as the band plays on, as you look at me with those blue eyes.

Betty Bleen
www.toocutetoboop.com

0 Comments

From the moment I read in my first-grade reader,
See Dick run, I couldn't wait to turn the page
to view the pictures and see what other sorts of
things Dick could do. But my bigger passion was art,
so it was an easy task for me to draw and color big
letters to make an alphabet book, which we were told
we could take home to keep.

With the first letter, A, Sister Clara wrote on the
chalkboard, A is for apple. In an effort to encourage
us to pick appropriate colors she asked the class,
What colors are apples? The class responded with red,
yellow, green. I was proud of myself as I colored the
letters, keeping within the lines, and based on
Sister Clara's beaming smile, just knew my alphabet
book was the best one in the whole class!

Today, going through old boxes I take out that
alphabet book and smile as I open it to the first
page, the letter A jumping out at me in boldly colored
sections of plaids, polka dots, and stripes. My face
beams its own smile of approval at the pleasant
discovery that even at the tender age of five, I was
already a rebel before my time.

Betty Bleen
www.toocutetoboop.com

0 Comments

A Better View

2/28/2018

0 Comments

Each time we talk on the phone the conversation
becomes mundane. You think everything is better

in the west. According to you, sunrises are brighter,
sunsets more flamboyant, skies more blue.

And just last night, we even had an argument over
the moon! You should see the moon tonight, it's so

bright and clear, was how it started. I said that from
my vantage point the moon was so bright I almost

needed shades and that it was crystal clear. Well,
you said, it's sitting above the mountains, offering a

spectacular view. I said my moon seemed to be
balancing right on top of a downtown skyscraper and

that was what I called a view! And so the conversation
went, ending in yet another fight. After we hung up

the phone I looked up at the moon and couldn't help
laughing. Arguing over the moon, how idiotic!

I think I even saw the Man in the Moon laughing.

© Betty Bleen
www.toocutetoboop.com

0 Comments

Forward>>

Betty Bleen's Poem

LOOSE THREADS

I STARTED A DIET TODAY

SPELL CHECK

IN THE PHOTO

BY A FOUNTAIN

ALPHABET BOOK

A Better View

Author

Archives

Categories

Ohio Chinese/Taiwanese American News Location 俄亥俄新闻地址

Contact Us

聯繫我們

Betty Bleen's Poem

LOOSE THREADS

​I STARTED A DIET TODAY

SPELL CHECK

IN THE PHOTO

​BY A FOUNTAIN

ALPHABET BOOK

A Better View

Author

Archives

Categories

Ohio Chinese/Taiwanese American News Location 俄亥俄新闻地址

Contact Us​聯繫我們

I STARTED A DIET TODAY

BY A FOUNTAIN

Contact Us

聯繫我們