The Other Boy Fills Out an Online Form For a Free In-Depth Case Evaluation

Photo by Nikolett Emmert on Unsplash

First name:

volunteer alyssum

Last name:

what a mother gives

Briefly describe your case:

am I to reenter
tent zippers
bind unbind
thrill and revulsion
distantly a bell
struck three times

what use are you
to the child
who carries
what has been
made wordless
stone beneath water

will you be
the absent god
find the edges
of shame to lift
so the child cannot
feel its leaving

let touch be
sunflower seeds
pressed to soil
coiled green hose
pine dust settling
on mayfly wings