42 Down

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Grande]I waltzed in at 8AM -    
giddy from your goodbye kiss    
and an oversized shot of cocaine.    
My mom was at the kitchen counter    
with a cup of coffee    
and the Sunday crossword.    
   
She glanced up at my arrival -    
but didn't bother to ask    
where I'd been;    
why my eyes were so red;    
why my outfit didn't make    
any sense for 8AM.    
   
She simply gestured to    
the seat beside her,  
shifted the newspaper page  
so we both could see.  
She shied her eyes away from  
the hole at the vein of my inner elbow.  
    
I told her 42 down was lazy susan -    
and that she needed to change    
gause to gauze to make it fit.