four faces
locked in an argument
about essentials:
safety and love –
our boys aren’t speaking
(to each other –
they are ranting to us)
then Owen unexpectedly crosses
no-man’s land
calmly says
there’s something Cedar should see
we all look up
(some more skeptically than others)
Spidey has a family
he announces
and we all spill out of the house
gaze up into the rafters
where a line of four sweet chipmunks
placidly gaze back at us
smiles wide between their cheeks
absolve us all
without lifting a paw
let us move on
to the hugging
part of the day
