Still wet from the bath / the girl has a song /
caught in her skin / she moves side to side /
limbs springing out / like new animals /
stop child, I warm / the lotion and try /
to apply it to a moving / target in and out /
of my reach / hit an elbow then a calf /
the giggles don’t stop / and I practice /
aging while trying / not to fire blanket /
the atomic girl / who laughs at everything /
including bedtime / and I finally glisten /
an arm, chest, left / smiling cheek not /
because I have / gotten better but the child /
has slowed with age / and now a playful hand /
is a potential fist / a scarred knuckle /
the one leg will / become less perfect after /
a fall remember when / I wore crutches, Daddy /
not yet am I witness / she grabs the car keys /
my empty-handed / objection, the house empties /
when she leaves / the first time, a collapse /
of myth, I will remember / before I became /
a ghost ship, wasn’t always / a bedtime or my /
once-confident / hands glistening, holding /
a brand-new sun /