A friend sent me this poem today and, although I had never read or heard it before, I find that I know it well.
Night sounds
At night your children ask
in cries for you to come to them
In the space between sleep and light
you pull on a baby sling, tuck in small fingers
soothing who you can. Not at all times mindful
what treasure you hold.
In the mornings things align themselves
like dishes in a row
work to do, and people
who have need of you, always
The space will not always be there,
the night
you meet your children in.
Someday not so long from now, no one
will wake you from your sleep and dreams.
Pictures will move behind your eyes
again, noise given only to floor boards,
traffic, a rotating fan.
But what is more grounded
than the pavement you tread at 3 a.m.?
weighty jewel against your chest.
-Jill Bergkamp
