You lay in the dark
your eyes open
even though we have tried
all our tricks
to get you to sleep
you have begged so hard
to watch Humpty on youtube
that you are not a body anymore
but a writhing sack of outrage
exhausted
your dad stares
at the same spot on the ceiling
and gives you his version
of Humpty Dumpty’s backstory
about the two brothers
nobody talks about
how Darryl was the athletic one
who should have been on the wall
about Harold
who ironically
sold insurance
how Mr. and Mrs. Dumpty
didn’t make it
drifting apart
unable to cope with the grief
both quietly taking to the drink
I don’t know when
it was that you drifted off
but when you woke up
twelve hours later
you were the happiest
you’ve been in weeks
like a pin had popped
an anxiety that had been swelling
in your head
as though finally so much
had been answered.