The Toddler is Overtired
Karen Craigo
So bone-weary, all he can do
is hop up and down in his crib,
and sing out syllables, and pull
the cat's tail, and jump some more.
I've never been that tired, up
hours longer than he should be,
eyes red and fighting to stay open.
It's a tired that jangles, zaps
his nerves, light being so hungry
you don't feel hungry anymore.
But even the electric eel
has to sleep sometimes
in the mud of the Amazon stream.
All day he finds his way with bursts
of small charge, his electricity
making up for weak eyes, and even
when he tries to rest amid reeds,
always there's a hum in him.