What you dream while he's away at Model United Nations

I. Perched up in a high corner of his room you hear his alarm and see him motionless you never lost your fear of SIDS it sounds your own alarm He’ll grope for the snooze button and sleep in late because he can he sleeps well in hotel beds they're newer and bigger than his own and because you’re not there with your muted morning sounds and the unspoken lure of white mocha II. He’s a well-prepared diplomat with detailed policies and positions but he’s caught by surprise when the ambassador from Zimbabwe gets all precious and blocks his resolution Bono shows up to smooth things over but these things take time so everyone agrees settle things over World of Warcraft and Red Bull over ice III. Trouble finds him because he’s still really young and lacks street smarts A brown belt (while better than nothing) can’t stop the vicious gang from Singapore who target young, healthy quarry so they can knock them out and harvest their organs IV. There’s a big dance on the last night and he meets a nice girl maybe not as nice as you’d hope but nice enough for him to loosen up and dance You worry that she’s a little more experienced a second child with a rapacious older sister her parents have full cable you know she’s seen it all She talks about Burning Man and getting her own place Her face morphs into something predatory you wonder if there’s a Latin word for Skankasaurous Rex and you scream a scream he’ll never hear V. He appears old and it takes a while for you to know it’s him If he’s that old it means you’re either frail or dead and you wonder if you’re seeing him from now or through the lens of the Summerlands VI. He comes home intact and you’re both tired him from his travels and you from fevered dreams