In our move-about early marriage
we went for low- or no- rent spots.
One year we lived over a tavern
whose jukebox blasted till 1am.
We solved that problem by
putting the kids in our bedroom
while we took theirs cantilevered
over the outside. Come spring we
moved to a free cottage in Vermont.
While I was cleaning one little girl
lay on a bed while the other sang
lullabies to her. How sweet! Then the
singer said to the sleeper, “Now I’ll be
the baby, and you be the jukebox!”
2026 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in June 25-July 1, 2026.
