“What’s on tonight?” No one would have asked.
It just was On.
And we were there around it; or rather,
I, her, him, her. Because it was on.
i. Mother
She only wanted something else
Beyond rooms, a house and worry:
Too tired now to even think of what, exactly;
Was the light and sound even a diversion?
And maybe Rest wasn’t a fiction.
Maybe she just needed more of it.
ii. Sister
She did study, and do the work, and she wasn’t allowed more
Time on the computer. It would have to do
Even with no keyboard to voice out her wish
For a diary with really invisible ink
Or an iPod with headphones she’d buy separately.
No one really looked anyway,
And no one listened, why should she?
iii. Father
He was home early.
He’d flicked the remote and turned it on;
Then he wouldn’t have to listen to more noise.
For a while, he saw they were there, all at once.
For a while, he wondered why it felt strange:
Too much work? School? What, really, could explain it?
A while passed, the same way it had for years.
No one said anything, while we watched.
Was there anything to say?
No one really felt it was strange, sitting around, for a while.
When it did, she left/he left/she left
For the kitchen and two locked doors.
