Zoe in the Wee Hours by Steven Givler

Zoe in the Wee Hours
by
Steven Givler

When Zoe wakes

Her four-year-old's slumber
Interrupted by dream or noise

I hear her rise and cast aside her blankets

She makes her way to our room

Where Mommy's rhythmic breathing

And Daddy's wakefulness

Prove more reassuring

Than the fiber-filled bunny

She has carried all her life

It is always three or three-thirty

Some awful hour

When morning is still night

And I am loathe to waken

The only thing worse

Would be that she would not need me

So I am quick to rise

Quick to comfort

I tuck her back into bed

I smooth her furrowed brow

My father's duties done with gladness

Laid up against a time

Coming all too soon

When she will not waken

Or wakening, will not call

Or calling, call another man

Steven Givler is an artist, writer, and language specialist. He lives in Germany and Italy, and he has also made his home in Greece, Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Portugal. Steven's book for children, The Ravens Build the Softest Nest, illustrated with his own watercolor paintings, is awaiting publication, and two of his short stories appear in the anthology, Operation Homecoming, from Random House. Learn more about Steven and see his paintings at www.stevengivler.com.

plgoodman:
Sweet, sad, and so well presented. You have touched one of the essential truths of parenthood, and of life. How terrible it is to lose the one who needed you like that.... Thank you for this poem.
Posted 12/04/2014 07:46 PM

lincolnhartford:
a poem well written, and amazingly expressive of my own experience. Thanks for reminding me.
Posted 12/04/2014 10:30 AM

Wilda Morris:
This poem is right on the mark in terms of content - and well-constructed as a poem. Thank you!
Posted 12/04/2014 09:04 AM

Cindy:
I love the details of this and especially the fine strong ending.
Posted 12/04/2014 08:54 AM

Janet Leahy:
Love the phraseâ"a father's duties done with gladness." A gentle poem, thank you Steven.
Posted 12/04/2014 08:20 AM

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