He went away five days and then returned
to me, my irritant and nightly bore,
and six days passed before my husband learned
how much the trip fatigued him to the core.

“I’m getting old,” he said. “I didn’t know
a camping trip would take this much from me.”
The ground for bed, four dozen kids: how slow,
delusional or fanciful is he?

Of course he was exhausted – anyone
would bend beneath the stress of seventh grade.
The video shows episodes of fun,
but work and lack of insulation made
his perspiration drain him in the sun,
and shot apart the silence in the shade.