The Biggest Blanket in the World

Olivia found the biggest blanket

In the world

She stretched it out

Across the living room

And began auditioning

The stuffed animals

For cabinet positions

In her new blanket administration

Bo the Dog has been made

Vice-President of Chewed-On Furniture

And the Monster from the Closet

Has been put in charge of Security

Even though lately the Monster

Gets frightened

At the smallest sound or twitch

Olivia begins thinking of expansion

Right away

And soon

The biggest blanket in the world

Has made its way

Across the kitchen

Where all the ugly foods are replaced

With bowls of frosting

And macaroni and cheese

We get new passports

So that we can stay under the tent

And continue on with our lives

Feeling very grateful

That Olivia is our daughter

Because otherwise

We might be expected

To get on a waiting list

Before we can step foot

In the living room

Or the kitchen

Or the upstairs bedrooms

Where the blanket has extended

And we hear talk

That it might reach outside the house

And start to swallow up

The entire neighborhood

The blanket is soft

The color of cream

And parts of it drop down so low

That we have to inch along on our stomachs

But no matter the inconvenience

It’s always worth it

Because now there are hiding places

Where previously there had been

An open floor plan

Nothing to discover

Nothing to hide or seek

Nothing to delight in finding

We turn a corner

Where there never was a corner

And we meet an Ostrich

Named Mr. Flye with an ‘E’

And he tells us

That he’s supposed to be meeting

A chicken

But he’s been waiting for over six years

We tell him

That the blanket has been around that long

And he says that before it was here

It was somewhere else

And we can’t argue with that

While we have our fun

Olivia sits in the tallest tower in the world

At the blanket’s highest peak

Deciding if she should move her territory

West or Northeast

And where should the ice cream parlor go

And where should all the new schools go

Because Olivia understands

The value of education

But she also knows that

Ice cream has to be the top priority

At night before bedtime

The acrobats from the circus

And the drummer from the marching band

Perform together in what used to be the bathtub

And we turn the water on in the sink

And let it overflow so we can have a pool

Even though we didn’t ask Olivia first

Because we were so excited

At the thought of water acrobatics

And water drumming

And Mr. Flye looked like

He needed a bath

But when Olivia comes down from the tower

To see what that blue spot is

She spotted with her telescope

She is very angry

That we did not get a permit

For our new pool

And we’re made to turn off the faucet

And mop up the water

And Bo the Dog suggests taking away

Our passports

But Olivia says that won’t be necessary

Because it’s time for the blanket

To come down anyway

We are very sad about this

But Olivia explains

That the blanket wasn’t made

To stand forever

And that’s what makes it

So special

That sometimes the things we know

We’ll lose

Are there to teach us

How to love something

Without worrying about how long

We’ll have it

Olivia says that one day

She’ll need to put away

Everything she used to play with

And move to another house

A real house

That has walls and floors

And no soft fabric

Or pictures of ducks

Sewn into it

We don’t like to think about that

But we know she’s right

Her imagination is so big

There’s no way

It can fit in just one place

Not even under the biggest blanket

In the world

That night, when we put her to bed

We pull the blanket over her

And she’s already asleep

By the time we get to the door

Of her bedroom

And turn around

To ask her if she wants us

To leave the hallway light on

But we leave it on anyway

Just in case

She needs it

When she

Wakes up