Animals

Based on the following prompt: Prompt #23

NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 23

It happens like this:

45 minutes of giggling and noises

Under a table covered by a blanket;

Or moving hands back and forth in sand

Watching with a serious face;

Or 13 hands of Uno

where we both win and lose;

And then-

Rapid fire questions, tears, an image,

Throwing things around in anger:

The voices and the power arise.

It’s not like those chicks swirling in a machine

Or the kitten separated and left behind

Or the hard-eyed bunny lifted off the ground

Or the dog bleeding, unaware of how it started.

These, without words, never have moments of insight

That I can share or guide them to

No paintings or songs or moments of recognition.

Without voices that I can understand,

I feel helpless in their powerlessness.