I Want A Child

I’m old enough to have a child now, wincing
and wide-eyed in the dawn, chuckle-
crying when he/she is tickled
and laughing at the new love that has spawned its life, I am

old enough now to enjoy
the predations on my private life, the crawling
through my spaces, the gradual destruction
of all that I hold dear, my
books and manuscripts, my
private spaces, a

child is just a more sentient cat
filled with mischief but with more mischievous intent, it

revels in chaos all that it
early knows, but can’t quite
put things together, it
toys and plays with things
to discover their nature
like their Dad does

and Mom goes “coo coo” and I say
talk to the kid like an adult, it will
internalize that and go to Harvard

like Daddy did

-30- May 2004