A Letter to My Son at Camp

Each night
as I clean up from dinner
I put away the serving which would have been yours.

These few weeks 
while long enough
for me to miss you and our night time talks
and the afternoons we carve out time to share popcorn and a movie,
while long enough for the recycling bin to fill several times over
and for the dog to give up waiting for your return and finally
come upstairs

These few weeks
are not long enough
for me to adjust to cooking for a family of three. 
Yet in four short years I will have to do just that. 

No longer will you need to tell me
the nights you will not be home for dinner
but rather the nights when you will.