It is more careful
Never to leave the city.
Once here
Trust seaweed that is dark and scrub;
Barnacles will offer purchase.
She makes raspberries a small occasion
Or a walk the night of the Leonids,
A crock of pickles.
You want to say
Shame on her
Succumbing to seduction.
When you were torn by war
I watched,
My sons safe,
My womb safely
Empty.
The day before you painted windows,
Boarded them against the chaos
Katherine Grace Bond has written or contributed to more than 20 books, including the bestselling Legend of the Valentine (Zonderkidz), and Considering Flight (Brass Weight Press), a series of poems exploring the precarious connection between daughter and father.