I should straighten up.
 
 Scrub. Make the place
 
 presentable. Habitable.
 
 A place I want to be in.
 
 But I’m exhausted. Sore.
 
 Sore. Too sore to pick up
 
 my stuttering baby. I warm
 
 a bottle. Similac pacifier.
 
 Then I locate the phone.
 
 “Mom? I know it’s late,
 
 and I’m sorry. But I need
 
 you to come get Hunter.”
 
 They Say a Picture
 
 Is worth a thousand words.
 
 Mom studies the picture
 
 that is my apartment, says
 
 not one word except, This
 
 is the right decision.
 
 I kiss Hunter good-bye,
 
 knowing this is the right
 
 decision, knowing too
 
 that I probably won’t see
 
 him again for a while.
 
 He goes to Mom with
 
 enthusiasm, gooing a hello.
 
 Poor baby should be fast
 
 asleep. He’s going home
 
 now. Home to sleep.
 
 I will not sleep tonight.
 
 I sit in the dark, staring