Bad Deer Dream
unlike your sisters
you rarely slept
you’d peek out your door
for anyone awake
in the wee hours
and drag your boppie –
the soft, puffy one with the horses-
and give a tousled headfirst tumble
onto the living room couch
to contemplate
in the dim silence
your sleepy, hoarse voice
and wild, expressive eyes
invited me into your troubled dreams
that kept you far from sleep
“I, I, I, I…..I had a bad dream.
I, I, I…..I was riding
and, and, and, and…..and the car stopped
and, and, and…..and we saw a deer.
A bad deer.
And, and, and, and……and it bit me.”
(your eyes popped open wider here)
“Oh no!”
I overdramatized,
opening my own eyes wider in horrific
response that a bad deer bit
my baby.
“Were you okay? Where did it bite you?”
You demonstrated by grabbing your foot,
Which slid out of your single dangling sock.
“In, in, in…….in the sock!”
Those precious early morning moments
just you and me
are especially sweet memories now
when you bring your own 3 dreamers
who give tousled headfirst morning tumbles
onto Nana’s couch.
Common Threads 