(Inspired by "O Captain! My Captain!" [which is a much drearier piece].)
O baby! My baby! Your bedtime's here again.
And questioning your wakening isn't an "if," but "when."
The bath is done, the books are read, the prayers they are all chanted.
Your socks are on, your shirt is tucked, your bottom's been a-panted.
Now, shh! shh! shh!
As I walk you through the air
And place you in your snuggly crib,
Then descend the well-worn stairs.
O baby! My baby! It's only been an hour,
And yet you're up and crying now. Will I ever shower?
I go to you and scoop you up, and settle you to nurse,
And when you're done, I put you down, and when you cry, I curse.
So rock, rock, rock
As you suck without a care,
And I place you back in bed again
And sneakily go downstairs.
My baby's up and wailing now, it's not yet ten o'clock,
If only this could just be solved by changing out his frock.
He's dry and clean, he's nursing again, eventually he'll sleep.
And someday when he sleeps all night, I probably will weep.
So I hug, kiss and snuggle
My sweet, warm teddy bear,
And patiently await the night
I don't have to climb the stairs.
1 comment:
I couldn't resist. Apologies to Thomas, Williams, and Frost:
Oh please go gentle into that good night,
Young babes shouldn't burn at rave at close of day;
Sleep, sleep until the coming of the light.
Though grown men at their end know sleep is right,
Because their mind and body are weary they
Can go gentle into that good night.
...
And you, my son, there in your warm crib,
Curse, bless me now with your slumber, I pray.
Please go gentle into that good night.
Sleep, sleep until the coming of the light.
--------------------
so much depends
upon
a quiet sleeping
baby
glazed with happy
dreams
sleep through the damn
night.
--------------------
Two hours diverged in a sleepless night,
And sorry I could not sleep through both
And be now rested, long I stood
And longed for one as far as I could
To where it passed in the night;
Then saw the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was later and wanted dreams;
Though as for that, the passing night
Had worn me really about the same,
And both come morning equally lay
In a bed no body had tousled sheets.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how baby leads far from sleep
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two hours diverged in the night, and I,
I took the only one I could get.
And that has made all the difference
Post a Comment