no good night

because the man decreed
from a bench
we watched
you go off
for the first time

it's only
an overnight
we say
to ourselves
not forever

yet we wander
around our home
looking for things to
keep the mindwolves
at bay

supper
homework
a blister
Alex Trebek
What is Montpelier?

avoiding the
silences
in the walls
and the vacant
echo in the floors

we
have come to
be addicted to
the sounds
of you

a day is just another
to all others
when the fall
comes
to other lovers

and stones descend
from the
sky on
someone else's
head

there is no
good night
when the warmth
of a child
goes missing

this night
a shuffle of
poorly
written
dreams

that poke
at the backs
of the eyes
while the ears
swear they hear you

this lost limb
a bleating lamb
and the heart pumps
blood to the child
in a different bed

i keep looking for the baby
says the woman
who knows the
smell of you better
than anyone

i saw you
birthed
the blood and the
mess that came
with you

that makes
me yours
not theirs
i only covet
what i love

the man behind
the bench
has children too
did he have
to wave goodbye like me?

i will not
sleep before
liars
nor wake
without her

no good night
comes from
the absence of
a child's
kiss