Dana Wildsmith: "Evening Song with Max"

Nightly after supper this boy

naps on my lap

for an hour, his flopsy body

weighty and warm as a new robe;

both of us heavy-headed,

our bellies full as prayer lists,

breathing in turn

like pewmates in an evensong choir;

his breath, my breath,

sustaining the tone,

helping a peaceable night come on.

"Evening Song with Max" by Dana Wildsmith. Text as published in Our Bodies Remember (Sow's Ear Press, 1999), used here with permission of the poet. In addition to her website, visit her blog.

Art credit: "Black and white portrait of old man sitting on armchair with small dog sleeping on lap," photograph by Carlos Ciudad Trilla, uploaded January 31, 2010.