Todd Matson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in North Carolina, United States.  His poetry has been published in the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling; Soul-Lit: A Journal of Spiritual Poetry; and Fresh Words: An International Literary Magazine. He was the winner of a poetry contest sponsored by The Dream People, and his poetry has been featured in Poetry for Mental Health.  His short stories have been published in Faith, Hope and Fiction; Ariel Chart International Literary Journal; Literary Yard; Children, Churches & Daddies and Vital Christianity.  He has also written lyrics for songs recorded by number of contemporary Christian music artists, including “The Seasons of My Soul,” by Brent Lamb; “Heartsound,” by Connie Scott; and “Forever,” by The Gaither Vocal Band, which went to number 2 on the Inspirational Chart in Contemporary Christian Music.  He cowrote the lyrics for “When I Found You,” with Grammy Award winning Contemporary Christian Music artist, poet, and author, Gloria Gaither.   

Sticks and Stones

Dad quoted Granddad
as he spewed profanities
at Mom, me and Bubby,
while Granny quoted
the words of Jesus.

Mom quoted Dad as
she unleashed profanities
on herself, me and Bubby,
while Granny quoted
the words of Jesus.

I quoted Dad and Mom
as I hurled profanities
at myself and Bubby,
while Granny quoted
the words of Jesus.

What did Bubby do?
Well, what could Bubby do?
Like a lamb led to slaughter,
he quoted Jesus’ silence.
He did not open his mouth.

Chemistry

Take the tiny test
tubes of different colored
fluids and powders from your
chemistry set, pour them into a beaker,
mix in a mishmash of mundane household
ingredients – aftershave, shampoo, pickle juice,
perfume, baking soda, cough medicine, or whatever
else you can find in your bathroom or kitchen – and you too
might get to see a mysterious concoction blow up in the eyes of
your best friend, or empty your mind of the brew you have made of
your life, open your heart to the ingredients of empathy, compassion, love,
affection, loyalty, devotion and goodwill, and learn something about chemistry.

Grunge Girl

Recently there have
been sightings of her styling
a grunge look, virtually swallowed
in baggy pants, hanging shirts, drooping
sweatshirts, practically disappearing under
overcoats, overlying undercoats, under which she lies.

She lies about
swallowing, drawing
nourishment from food she feeds
the toilet like a mother bird feeds her babies.

She lies about
the concentration
camp silhouette she is
secretly styling, complete
with all the bells and whistles –
eroded esophagus, failing kidneys,
ulcerated stomach and thinning heart.

Catch the sight
of her smiling and
see the fingernail polish
she applies each morning to
her teeth now purged of enamel.

Tell her Barbie has
an anatomically impossible
figure that does not exist in nature.
Tell her.  Tell her now.  Before she disappears.