lying down on the job

He says “good night daddat”
“Time go sweep”
Or some equivalent
And I try to count to three
Before he asks the next question
This morning most of the questions are about electricity
And what gets plugged in
Things like clocks and televisions
And what doesn’t
Things like closets
This morning neither the closet
Nor the clock
Nor the light
Is helping me
Figure out how many more questions I should field
I know it was twenty to six when I came up
But I have no idea about the passage of time since
Other than to say that there’s been time for several big gusts of wind
And time for me to attempt to explain electricity to a two year old
Luckily he isn’t connecting the wind to the lack of electricity
He isn’t really sure how or why he got carried downstairs in the middle of the night
He isn’t sure why we are now upstairs lying on sissy’s mattress on the floor of Sissy’s room
He doesn’t know the progression hi mother and I went through last night
From hurricane to tornado warning
From they’re ok upstairs in their beds
To she’ll be ok away from the window in the middle of the room
To what about him under the window
Through visions of trees crashing through the roof from every direction
To the late night transfer he doesn’t remember
He just likes the glow in the dark stars on sissy’s ceiling
And he likes it when I sing ‘This Little Light of Mine”
He even likes to pretend to sleep next to me
Almost as much as he likes to ask questions
Which is why he says “good night daddat” so often
And why I count to three