My Nighttime Tribe

My Nighttime Tribe

I see my tribe, in their nighttime hive

Finally come alive

As restless head

Succumb to sheets and beds

Eyes rubbed raw from the nightly fight

Half-yawned protests as eyes shutter tight

Mom and dad hang up responsibilities

Flip the switch on their duality

And aim to please

Themselves

Slinking into the coveted spots on the couch

Man and wife, he and she, relax and slouch

Into their own skins

T.V.s turned to stations

Lacking abbreviations

With junior in their communications

Beer tops pop and bubble, bubble,

There is nothing to fix or

Can I trouble

you for another drink,

No need to calculate or think.

I can sink

Into oblivion for an hour or two

These precious hours I accrue

At the end of a mother’s day

When I can shuffle off the role I play

The me I must delay

Until night lights dim and lighten my load

I slip back into me mode

Where I have choice and a voice

To myself

Not shrill or cooed or stuck on repeat

Just me, the one my husband would like to meet

Snugged on the couch or between the sheets

The me I used to be when we were just we

The one I hide in my back pocket till it’s just

Him and me

Or me and he alone with our own notions

Our own books and minds and emotions

Yes, my tribe comes alive in the night

As parents awaken themselves at the sight

Of children’s head tucked in beds snug and tight.