Writch's Peek-a-Boo

PEEK-A-BOO
Writch © 6/3/2001

For the third night
I stayed awake
Sighing in bed
unable to sleep
without you, Sis

I stared upward
at the ceiling
to the slow fan
I could not see
but knew was there

I thought of us
before your birth
when Mom held me
and I held you
in her pregnant belly

I’d sing
    Peek-a-boo
    I know you’re there
    I can feel you breathing

My mind drifts later
to when we’re kids
and slept like spoons
after we played
hide-n-go-seek

I’d say
    Peek-a-boo
    I know you’re there
    I can hear you breathing

When we were teens
in the winter
behind a tree
you’d sneak attack
or at least tried

I’d yell
    Peek-a-boo
    I know you’re there
    I can see you breathing

Last week you died
before I came back
a chance for good-bye
the bed bends and
a draft stirs... you?

I whisper
    Peek-a-boo
    I know you’re there
    I can feel you breathing

I really, really liked this