tonight

I'm living in that familiar place
for parents; instant nostalgia;
where each day brings us closer
to the end of another summer,
to the first day of kindergarten,
the first day of preschool,
and my first day
as a 30-something
college student.

Our rhythm will change
dramatically in a few
short weeks.  I feel
unprepared for the shift,
I am impatient & clingy.
As darkness settles in tonight
I watch my barefoot
girls from the front porch
as they make sandbox pies
and talk to the birds.
It is nearly dark out;
no one has had a bath,
or brushed their teeth
but I am nowhere near ready
to call them in.