Child Sent to His Room
“Lights out ……. No reading in bed”
The child stared out the window as a cobra
………..of moonlight wrapped around the tree
And slid across the roof’s black shingles
He placed the book he had been reading
…………on a pillow
Lay down to pull the blanket up …… Closed
………..one eye then the other
Opening the book he began to read the end
………….of the story in his mind
He watched the girl eat the strawberries
………….as she walked across the park
He watched her enter the library and begin
………….to read the book written in Braille
He watched her fingers dance across the page
The girl said out loud ….. “Remember that feeling”
He loved how the story nested quiet
…………in the white rose of his skull
Every campfire …. Each whisper …. The creaking door
He wondered if the story went on while he dreamed
Could the girl drown in the red or the white folds
…………of his brain?
Falling deeper asleep the muscles of his face
………..began to relax
Until thin slices of blue appeared between the silent
……….lids of his eyes
© John McKernan
John McKernan – who grew up in Omaha Nebraska in the USA – is now a retired comma-herder and phonics-roustabout who taught 41 years at Marshall University. He lives in Florida. His most recent book is selected poems Resurrection of the Dust. He has published poems in many magazines.
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