"For Lillian"

That look, yes, that look

            Pierced even the shadows

The child’s sentiment shifted from

            What was to what is

Staring up at—us, our figures

            A frieze of a daggered Greek Chorus

What once made her safe provided

            The alchemy for what stood

The child’s sentiment shifted from

            What was to what is

And we bickered and fakely bantered,

            (For her sake).

What once made her safe provided

            The alchemy for what stood

And she drew the blanket and the animals,

            A talisman around her unlined neck,

We bickered and fakely bantered,

            (For her sake).

Yes, I broke the “Golden Rule”—I

            Cursed her mother and made fodder of my words

She drew the blanket and the animals,

            A talisman around her unlined neck,

And we left that room together, though

            We could still hear her cries, muffled, through the plastered wall.