seventeen children will fall asleep tonight.

one will dream of
a red bird mocking
his limp,

one will dream of
his house empty
as a tomb.

three will dream of
fields of flowers
thick as comforters
where bodies rose from the ground
dressed all in blue
that ascend towards the sky.

two will dream in black and white.

one will dream of snow

and
five will not remember
what they dreamed.

one will fall on
his cold bedroom floor.

one fell asleep there.

one will not sleep at all
because there are monsters
under his bed.

one will sleep
pressed between his parents
like a flower in a book

and one will sleep alone.