playing a game of hide and seek but when i go looking they didn’t just hide

they pack their belongings and move to another state

they have prior obligations

past issues

the carrot on the string is just a dowel rod painted orange but in this maddening hunger

i don’t seem to care

get a splinter in my gums at best

or another staple aortically administered

like my daughter’s stuffed bunny

she doesn’t want him until her brother says something

she would rather it to in the bottom of a toy chest than someone else love on it

and i am irritable today

aching all over

just pissy

no time or energy for playing

the nurses kept jokng all morning and i tried to play along

but my dessicated heart wasn’t into it

the code blue an hour before did something to my head

so i yelled olly olly oxenfree and walked out the front door and drove away

they giggle in their hiding spots unaware the seeker is a ghost

a puff of smoke and i vanish