Today you insisted
on changing your outfit
before your nap
black jogging pants
and a dress shirt
that you covered in purple streaks
from picking salmon berries
that not even the raccoons will touch
this time of year
and as we lay together
at the foot of your bed
because that’s how you sleep now
calves off the bed
I asked you how you know
all the things you know
you want so much
you thought for a minute
and then you said
me
which I know actually means me
because it’s hard to teach you
that when I say
do you want me to come
I mean me
but when you ask me to come
you have to say you
I try to go over this slowly
but I think you’re asleep already
and you haven’t really answered my question
so I ask the bird on your wall
in those fancy shoes
she has lots to say
but I know better by now
not to trust
her advice.