Loading...
2020-11-20T13:02:47-08:00November 18th, 2020|Parenthood|

A crush detector

The mystery of girls
has suddenly closed in around him
like drapes drawn shut
on a window that had the clearest view
only just last week.

Secret conversations
and looks that last a second
but mean a hundred things
and laughter that stops and starts
at things he doesn’t understand.

“I wish there was a crush detector
for just one day,”

he said out loud to the ceiling today
and I couldn’t think of the right way
to tell him that the figuring-out
is the most exciting part,

learning this silent new language
that runs on electricity
and sounds like a thumping heart
and if I had to colour it
I would pick the exact flush
of his cheeks.

But I didn’t say any of that,
I just put extra butter on his toast,
put on that Sinéad O’Connor song
that always makes me cry,
and we listened to it together
right through
to the end.

INSPIRED TO SHARE?
Go to Top