Motherhood

Nights you’d prowl the house
in stark contrast
to days of nursing/moving/coaxing

Did you slip away, certain your baby was asleep –
forgetting she was an only child
soon to miss the warmth of your body?
or was it a need from deep inside
to have some part of each day silently to yourself?

It was to my door she came
short, quivering tail
and tentative steps
unable to find solace alone in the dark

Too old to be up with babies at night
but heeding her pleas
I would scoop her into my arms
and fall asleep on the rug, waiting for your return