We walk slow on your bum knee
take breaks to tease out your girl
crazy, my boy crazy, weight
of absence that tasks
our joints and always
the artists with bum hearts.
We speak of our energetic
sons, the way they settle in
for snuggles when sick. Our
frenzy for their good health.
We swim in blue sky, against
currents of air, clouds in shades
of dusk, of bruises; wind strongest
against your breast. Vigor
and power reduces from
what you had grown —
tsunamis, thunder, green vines
through clay, one blossom.
I feed you ice chips. You smile
over chapped lips that catch
on dry teeth. Desert
under fluorescent lights.
I don’t want a day to dawn
without you, so I stay
awake. Skin and limps,
dimples and crushes, all
must be laid down.
Kristin Kowalski Ferragut is a poet-mom who teaches, writes essays, songs and stories, plays guitar, rides her bike, and hosts readings and open mics. She is author of poetry collections Escape Velocity (Kelsay Books, 2021) and Love Letters from Cuckold Creek (cyberwit.net, 2025), and the children's book Becoming the Enchantress (Loving Healing Press, 2021). Read her work, including her Mind’s Eye blog at https://www.kristinskiferragut.com