I don’t sleep, but I suddenly wake
My head is a race track
Your toy car follows each age line in my face
I smile
New lines are formed

Today you are two

Height, weight, and age can be measured
You can not measure my patience
But you know how to test it
Bip the Clown is no mute
A handsome Blok nonetheless
You can not measure my happiness
But you know how to grant it

Preparing for work
Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard
I daydream we are an adagio pair
And you are Atlantis soaring
Toothpaste drips onto my shirt

Stomping
Here comes the son
Winked an eye as you pointed your finger…
“I pooped Dada!”

Soon there will be two

Notes:

• I wrote this poem about my son Harrison on his birthday.
• “Bip the Clown”, also known as Marcel Marceau, was a French mime and actor. My son is at the age where he mimics everything he sees and hears.
• Alex Blok (Бло́к) was a Russian lyrical poet (1880 – 1921) whose work I’ve recently been reading. The Russian pronunciation of Бло́к is a homophone with the word “bloke”, which is suggested as the intended word to be read.  Also, Бло́к translates to “block”, which my son, as most children, enjoy playing with.
• “Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard”  is a palindrome, meaning it’s spelled the same forward and in reverse.  I’ve recently been very interested in highly constrained poetry.  Check out the poem called “Dammit I’m Mad” by Demetri Martin for an example of a 224 word palindrome.
• “Atlantis  Soaring”, Space Shuttle Atlantis was a space shuttle that took its first flight on October 3rd, my son’s birth date, in 1985. 
• “Here Comes the Sun” is a song written by George Harrison of The Beatles, whose last name  was the inspiration for my son’s name.
• “Soon there will be two”, Harrison’s brother will be born in January