Shared Custody

by Ona Gritz

A third of the week,
my son lays on sheets
I've never touched
in an apartment
with night creaks
I haven't slept through.
He comes home
with a foreign smell.
Smoke in his hair.
From his pores, spices
of unfamiliar food.
After his bath,
I dress him in clothes
fresh from the wash, ask
what he did this weekend.
Always, he shrugs
and says, "Nothing."
But it isn't true.
I've seen photos
of my boy in playgrounds
I don't recognize,
at backyard parties
with children
whose names I don't know.

Ona Gritz is the author of two children's books, Starfish Summer (HarperCollins, 1998) and Tangerines and Tea (Harry N. Abrams, forthcoming 2005). Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in many publications, including Moment, Poetry East, Heresies, and online in Literary Mama ,The Plum Ruby Review, Poetica and Ekphrasis, where she was a finalist for the 2004 Ekphrasis prize. Ona lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her son, Ethan.