Harrison Butker

or The Somnambulant Man

in the middle of the night

he woke up

struggled to feed himself

left his dirty underwear

on the bathroom floor

everyone and everything

had gone on without him

his kids had grown up

his wife had grown independent

his mother had died

while inside he had not changed

in the middle of the afternoon

(after a short nap)

he woke up

dreaming supper was on the table

(but it wasn’t)

everyone and everything

had not returned to what it had been

he didn’t know his pronouns

his kids were still grown up

his wife was still independent

his mother was still dead

and inside he (secretly) knew it would never be the same

5-17-2024