The foot

I lay down next to my child as she sleeps.

Three years ago today she was a ceramicist

molding the elasticity of my skin—

(A foot!—A trail inside the sand of me.)

Now, she is more than half the length of my body

as I lay next to her—

untogether and together-still.

She rolls over towards me, heavy with sleep—

The only feeling better than watching her come

towards me

is watching her ditch me

at parties and playgrounds—ditch me

with the sparkle of a college senior.

But right now—in sleep—the foot—

it finds me—kneads

at my stomach

and makes an earth of me.