By morning the children’s clothes
had dried on the barbed wire
and were packed with toys for the train.
The drunks felt themselves sober
and the hasty lust from last
night evaporated,
but the children were clean
and their skin scrubbed with love.
Prayers were left for the childless
and the alone, while hot water
and the habits of home were the worship
of parents going with their children,
taking them to leave them, leading
them to the ends of memory.
Tim Miller‘s poetry and essays have appeared in Parabola, The Wisdom Daily, Jewish Literary Journal, Crannog, Southword, Londongrip, Poethead, and others across the US and UK. Two recent books include Bone Antler Stone (poetry, The High Window Press) and the long narrative poem To the House of the Sun (S4N Books).
