Bedtime

My daughter
came home
from her first day of middle school
and at dinner acted strange

She cut her food into a thousand little pieces
and made a mosaic with them
but didn’t eat

At bedtime
she asked me to draw her a story
I’m an amateur artist
and this is something we did a lot
when she was smaller

Draw me six bleeding zebras, she asked
Draw a girl eating purple sea urchins
Draw a clock–
when it ticks another child dies of hunger

I wielded the colored pencils
and once again
mourned her mother
regretted her mental illness
and wished I wasn’t
a single father

© Mitchell Grabois

Mitchell Krochmalnik Grabois’ poems have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines in the United States and abroad. He is a regular contributor to The Prague Revue, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, most recently for his story “Purple Heart” published in The Examined Life in 2012, and for his poem, “Birds,” published in The Blue Hour, 2013. His novel, Two-Headed Dog, based on his work as a clinical psychologist in a state hospital, is available for 99 cents from Kindle and Nook, or as a print edition.

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