Bubble Boy

—off to somewhere else

https://soundcloud.com/gracepasco/bubble-boy

I see him packing up without me,

Getting ready to slip out the front door while I sleep.

He’ll be careful so the locks won’t click too loud

Or the floors creak too much.

He is worried that the car should

Surreptitiously tell me of his departure,

Which would rupture the bubble he’s blowing,

The one he’ll ride like the Good Witch of the North.

Like the one in Wizard of Oz.

I fold and crisscross

My arms over my chest

And act according to plan.

Awake, I sleep,

Then, click go the locks.

Creak goes the floor.

And the car?

Is a narc.

I look to the gusts of wind and pray

That his bubble only bursts when he is ready

To land with hands open,

Unclenched and at peace.