Elena crouches giggling

Elena crouches giggling

in a cardboard box

covered with a blanket

which she calls variously

her bed, her tent,

or her house

Charla crawls to the box

grips edge and hoists herself

into her aspirational

near stand

starts shouting

at top of lungs

(high notes

from up there

in the squeeze box)

three syllables

over and over

Sudden

recognition

huge only for us

that she's shouting "Elena"

with all the joy

and cosmic poignancy

of a slightly

staticky transmission

from our friends

in the next galaxy

Elena says

There's a zoo on this trip

a Canada fix

it's bedtime all day

4 am

Both girls wake up

crying

wanting mommy

I bring Charla

from her crib

to Jenny's bed

and back again

like hades'

ferry boat captain

She cries every time

but less insistently

even as she

wakes Elena

from sleep into

the wee hours'

dream of endless dark need

Elena had a dream

she met a funny monster

who turned her pajamas

into cookies

then back into pajamas again

She made it very clear to me

a funny monster

is not the same thing

as a friendly monster