paternal slumber

father sleeps on our couch

he is childlike in posture

slumped to his right

head resting on a pillow

arms tucked into himself

i see a twelve year old boy and

a sixty two year old man

wrapped up at once

long day of swimming at the community pool

fractured marriage reaching its end

overheated from football practice

under a sweltering new mexican sun

spirit worn by a perturbed son

blistered sore feet from evading cowboys

and chasing indians

childhood sealed by death of both parents

while father sleeps

it's hard to tell his real age

i see a sprawling boy

then after a readjustment 

of the arms a shift of the legs

he is transformed back into an aged man

looking with and without eyes

i see two different sorts