Sitting a little shellshocked
as I realize the same place
where the child spent
almost ten hours
singing along and leading
her parents in song
running around the building
showing off her paper plate bunny
eating clementines for lunch
doing laps in the big and small rooms
watching a bit of VeggieTales
lying down on the couch
and insisting I stay on the floor
kicking around soccer balls
ping pong paddles
plastic baseball bats
and a foosball table
tucking a puppet dragon to bed
with the same blanket of
the aforementioned couch
having pizza and ice cream for dinner
before finally collapsing into the car
is the same place that the child
spent every possible minute this morning
kicking and screaming resisting
getting dressed leaving the house
going to the car listening to
anything to stay away from
Joshua Keiter 