tnbp2

the night before you came home

let's-do-something-restless. fickle 

in desires, we couldn't settle on it

so you turned on the tv where real 

lives were led. only it wasn't a tv

anymore, we were well into the

the twenty first century, adulting

with the best of them, virtually

involved with memes and podcasts

that made us feel relevant and somehow

useful. let's call it entertainment.a game.

the night before is restless, wants happening
to happen now. unable to  to embrace
d\the undertow , wide awake we guess-
what's under the tree, what costume will she
wear, what will be in the basket, what's it like
to be married, a soldier, a college student,a kind-
dergartener- filled with  top of the roller coaster
 excitement, a small bewilderment
that life could be lived after this defining moment.

the night before every thing was prepared
except us. we knew it was coming, didn't plan
didn't think about it, didn't care. the warnings
went out months beforehand. still we drove
to work, dropped the kids at school, ordered
from amazon, opened the car doors like any
other night, emerging into dusk a conquered
nation, ready to keep peace in the house

 the night before lasts forever
 gone in a moment's sleep
you wish it when you want to
for it we do not weep.


aaaaaand that's work!