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.
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