Family Bed

by Ona Gritz

He's made his way into our bed again,
one small elbow dangerously close to my eye.
And though I barely fit the sliver of middle
you two back sleepers leave me,
I let him stay, turning sometimes
toward his jutting unpredictable angles,
sometimes toward the sweat-strong skin
beneath your raised arm.
Crushed between your sleep and his
I realize what I feel is sated.
For here in the brightening dark,
everything I breathe and feel against my skin
weights me to the fragrant tangle of this bed,
the fragrant tangle of this lucky life.

Ona Gritz is the author of two children's books, Starfish Summer (HarperCollins, 1998) and Tangerines and Tea (Harry N. Abrams, forthcoming 2004). 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.