appealing

The Maynard
Spring 2018

Cameron Morse
0:00
 
 

Soothing

He won’t let it go. Lili and I take turns going in
to soothe and sleep him. She bends
over the crib rail, patting his shoulder
until her back twinges. In the kitchenette, I heat
the water. The bottle warmer crackles.

Its orange satanic light gleams and blinks out
in the dark. Crook of my arm,
Theo writhes, he turns his head away. He writhes.
Head turned, he returns to the crib, reaches
for a whitewashed baluster and raises himself.

Again and again, he raises himself,
reaches and I brush his hand away. His hands
fly to the cage bars. I press them to his chest.
Loom above him in the dark, seething.