Boy Child

by Ona Gritz

The stray ballpoint, a gun.
Umbrella, a sword.
Hands empty,
the air gets a roundhouse kick.

Is this typical "boy" I want to ask.
Or just typical of this boy?
Past bedtime he's enacting battles,
strategies elaborate as chess rules.

Finally, he crash-lands beside me,
seeks my shoulder, slurs "Mommy . . ."
I stroke his sweat-damp hair
until, shifting position, he sleeps,
arms thrown back in surrender.

Ona Gritz is the author of two children's books, Starfish Summer (HarperCollins, 1998) and the forthcoming Tangerines and Tea (Harry N. Abrams). Her poetry has appeared in many publications, including Ekphrasis, Moment, Poetry East, Heresies, and online in Literary Mama and The Plum Ruby Review. Her work is also forthcoming in Poetica. Ona lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her son, Ethan.