Newborn

Grow up he shouted
For the tenth time his staid eyes under obstinate brows
Smoldered into your memory, and you will
Remember this moment.
Grow up? You turned the phrase over and over in the whirl of your mind
Reached for it past the memories of crowded rooms and pungent drinks
And white pills turned to dust
It was a neon sign blinking beside his mound of pencils and books
A steady beat you could hear in the unvarying drip-drip of the coffeemaker
A sour-sweet smell you can detect next to the crib where a newborn baby is deep in his slumber
Grow up you can see scrawled frantically across the walls of this tiny house
And feel so acutely in the pads of your fingertips
When you lay your hand on the top of his head to sleep at night
Grow up and reach the stars in your heaven that is right here