"Insecurity"

I am learning
how to be a good father to self-pity,

how to take it for walks at least three times a day
so that it gets plenty of oxygen
and the muscles stay loose
and easy to fold away at night,

how to provide only the essential nourishment
and sing it a lullaby when it cries for more
(sometimes love requires rejection)

how to carry it home and tuck it under the covers
after it drinks too much
and just won’t shut up about that damn toothbrush
you left in the medicine cabinet
and that I threw away months ago.

Copyright © 2018 Andrew Johnson | @WriterAndrew