Listen

listen...
in the next room my children sleep
I hear them grow in the dark,
hearts ticking like clocks;
teeth erupting like volcanos;
teeth loosening like ripe fruit—
cell by cell,
the muscles stretch
the bones lengthen,
a silent internal construction,
a reservoir of growth—
dreams bursting like dams

they grow in the night—
loaves of bread slowly rising with sweet smelling yeast;
and just the sound of their breaths in the dark—