10PM
This is it.
I will sleep yet!
Bathe, read, pray, sing, feed,
and down you go to SLEEP.
10:35
Ha ha ha!
finally time for us
oh, the possibilities!
“Hey.”
“Hey, babe.”
10:40
electric shrieks
screams soul-piercing
but we need
to let you be,
better you’ll be
in the end…
11:45
Is this the end?
“She’s still crying.”
11:50
Silence.
“We did it.”
“Now where were we?”…
12:00 midnight
electric shrieks
12:16
Fine, one more time
I’ll pick you up
and lay you next
to my breast
till 5 more months
pass
and I realize
I haven’t slept
6 hours uninterrupted
since
pregnancy.
But
this is it.
I will sleep yet!
Tomorrow’s the day
I know it.
Until then, come love
I’ll accept defeat
graciously,
my cheeks held
by tiny hands,
until you finally fall asleep
next to me,
kicking myself for giving in,
yet
loving my loss:
cuddled next
to your
every little breath.
