I edited this one about 50 times in the past week or so…when Pau was here…I was thinking about the “hidden” theme for Moss Piglet, but I feel this is a stronger poem, I should save for “One Art” or some other pub? (The next poem “ Scar” also has something “hidden “for the Moss Piglet theme)

Threshold of Slumber

Cicadas hum with summer heat,
the stroller rocks forward and back.
You blink against sleep.
Eyes bright as stars flicker in the shade.
Legs kick as if ready to spring
like a grasshopper into green.

At last, you quiet.
Legs loosen, feet draw together,
knees drift wide like a Monarch
folding and unfolding,
that slow hush of wings.

You float between flight and rest.
Eyelids flutter
open, close –
open, close –
the stroller eases you
into that threshold of slumber.

I lean in –
breathe sweet baby-air
memorize your perfect lips,
button nose
lightly graze your milk-smooth skin.

Watching you breathe,
joy spills through me, sweet grandson,
the whole cosmos cradled
in the gentle rise and fall
of your breathing.

A sudden twitch
shakes loose a dream
that flares in you
then fades
hidden behind
that thin curtain
of your sleep.