The Nursery
today’s activities
gently move
him along
to where
the sand table is
to puzzles
dinosaurs
numbered cubes
lunch comes
unwraps to
quiet time
a nap
he tries a little to fall
into a middle sleep
but big feelings float
all underneath
a longing for
who knows for what
he does not have
the words for some or all
of this he’s small
he repeats
back and forth
imagined
conversations
with invisible
companions
of his world
a girl a few
mats over stirs
as in a dream
it comforts him
he knows her name
daycare dances
through his squinting eyes
sunlight slices
from closed blinds
wavering lines
of haze on particles
of floating dust
bright colors
muted gray in
artificial shade
he does not
know but later
so much later
he’ll learn the words
for what now swims
like the hungry
great white shark
circling beneath
his tiny boat
floating on
all this invisible water
for he’s
a son of those
who have to know
after long wanderings
lost wanderlust
his grasp much stronger
his grip loosening
about to let go
one night
alone
he’ll wake to
the sound of
the voice
that’s been
a long time
calling
he’ll walk outside
hear again the words
his mother once spoke
and know