Looking in on a Six Year Old
It’s that time again.
The time to look into the room.
The door’s cracked open slightly
but I nudge the entrance slightly wider,
make width enough for my eyes.
The bed is dark.
Wallpaper pixies are darker still.
A night light makes a little of that blackness, yellow –
where hair meets pillow,
where cheeks burrow down for the night.
I’ve been learning that face for six years
but her sleep is a different lesson,
followed by a test
in how I handle
this early preview of my letting go.
I do well enough to return the door
to its original position.
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in Midwest Quarterly, Poetry East and North Dakota Quarterly with work upcoming in South Florida Poetry Journal, Hawaii Review and Roanoke Review.