two year old tears

in the dark
your cries startle me
my heart jumps
and I run to you.

“hoh me” you whisper
and I crawl into bed with you,
your tiny body perfectly cupped in mine.

you pull my arm around you
and you wiggle into my side
(and my heart)
and the warmth of you
the smell of you
the you-ness of you
floods my senses
and i close my eyes.

your pudgy hand grips my fingers
and you rub them like a talisman
and i pray that i can scare away the dreams that rattle you

“i love you”
i whisper gently
“eye yuh yoo”
slips from your lips
as you slip into dreams

and i hold you
and i close my eyes,
trying desperately to see your dreams.

eyes squeezed shut,
i see something
and realize it isn’t your dream
but mine
that dangles before me.

and i reach for it
and grasp it
and rub it like a talisman
and i pray that i can show you what it means to find your dream,
to live your dream…

you are my dream
and eye yuh yoo