Bedlam Baby

I remember you cartoon smile and egg-shaped head. Do you remember how the rainbow formed on the water, how the neon lights flickered, or the scent of nectarines on your forehead? They were happy to see for the first time behind glass window, between speaker box voices -- unopened package, untouched collector’s item, you shiny new contraption, star of the play, hero of the hour, flavor of the season. Seed of your father, soil of your mother. Fruit of love, fruit of conflict. Decision’s aftermath, delusion’s consequence, Are you accident, intention, problem, solution? Bough in the river, wrenched in the current. Hand reaching for hand, hand holding your own. Bedlam baby with the guilty smile do you remember how you would not fracture the mullioned frame, how you could not shatter porcelain, or how you hid in changing alleys? I will save you you will save me. My hand in yours. I am the boat you are the journey.