'Thumpity thump! '
goes the after midnight ceiling.
'Uh uh...our Briar Rabbit
is on the go again! '|
'Oh...you go! Put her back
to bed then! '
snaps an exasperated Mum.
'And don't be
taken in by none
of her
nonsense! '
I grin.
'Who me? '
'Yeah...you! '
Begin to climb the stair
like a scary monster
so she can't help but know
I'm coming...to get her!
Know I will discover her
hiding under in or on the wardrobe
giggling
invisibly
('cos she's got her eyes closed) .
But no
quiet now as snow
she stares
spookily into space
moonlight staining her face.
An attic window
cutting up the night sky
into a child's toy
of stars & hows & whys.
A universe
of unanswerable questions.
'What are you..? '
(I dare to ask her)
'...staring at! '
The silence fractures
but...holds.
'I'm looking at the silence
filling up the room
after I've gone...bang! '
'I see..! ' I say
suddenly seeing what she's seeing.
'Bed now...
...my little Miss! '
I soothe down
her quiff
with a licked fingertip.
'Shhh..! ' she hisses.
'The moon is asleep
in my
bed! |'
And I look
&...it is!
We both listen to
the moonlight dreaming
it's head
upon her pillow.
Hours after
we are discovered by a sleepy Mummy
who smiling
lets us be.
She curled up into me
I curled around her
coiled on the carpet
she clutching my hair
sucking my thumb.
The guilty moon
having mde its escape
attempting shamefacedly
to climb back into the sky
having fallen
& got entangled
in a skeletony
tree.
Tilly & me
melted together
into this
one human creature
made only
of dreams.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Touching on the nightime magic of Tilly's world...This is perfection, curled into one human creature.