Shadows provide
shade and shelter,
mine to my son
just till he’s ready
to unzip middle-school pajamas
and soar into the sun.
Night holds future bodies still,
revealing what’s inside,
peeling the last curl
of humility
that laughs
from a ripe insecurity,
called pride,
spilling secrets
tightly coiled
in the nucleus
of every atom,
a holocaust of creation
that started in the Garden
with a lizard, Eve, and Adam,
dismembering the fabric
of space-time
that bids the deafening sound
of silence goodbye.
The quiet hum of dawn
nurtures survivors
of the dark night
into giants
with every sip of gold,
souls taller
than anyone can stand.
This is what we sacrifice
when we fail
to love the boy
inside the man.