Your fierce face
on the pillow—
brows spearing down towards
wide bisected koala nose
succulent lips
acute resilient chin.
Tonight you are troubled
by concerns beyond your scope:
baffling sorrows
pervading childhood’s lair…
Felt inside the strident pitch
of your father on the telephone;
the tremulous tone
of your mother’s lullabies.
Felt in the streak of the cat,
the slink of the dog;
felt in the dangerous pulse
of our home.