39 C. E. Chaffin
Signal
A
t bedtime rain tickles the tin roof outside our window while twin firs scrape the siding to the wind‘s tune. Our children mount rocking horses into the starry sky; thumbs stuff their mouths like plums. You light a candle. Its bright yellow snake sniffs along the wallpaper, licking red wax into pools. Off with the lamp, it's time.
“Time for Bed,” after Raphael Tuck ~ E. A. Hanninen 2009