Nagging Instructions

What role have I

in your life?

Am I

the silken cobweb

that devours your dreams?

Am I

the eternal roar

that needs to be adored?

Am I

the mirror that

makes you laugh

while rumbling

nagging instructions about

bath time, homework,

quotidian urgencies?

Am I

the righteous rage that

cannot be caged

while plucking

popcorn, bubble gum

from shadows on the floor?

Come midnight

as your muddled form melts in sleep

I hug you and think,

Aren’t we all stunned wayfarers

in this thorny mindscape

salvaging eggshells, stitching chasms,

thawing relationships frozen by ice?

Am I

no different?

I exhale and

release my chokehold