Today's poem is by Tina Barry

After,
       

rivers swirled black, trees pulled from their roots,
tipped to the ground. Falling asleep that evening,
a mouse walked on my pillow and ruffled my hair.
It paused, then scuttled from one side of the bed to another,
as if the bed were a ship alive with strange smells.
I reached for it. Felt tiny sparks of its fear,
its trembling indecision.

My daughter crept into our room when she was little.
She'd lift the blanket, push her body against my side.

I wondered if the mouse had a mother,
and if her nest had washed away.
Then I thought of all mothers,
alert to the night, listening.

Copyright © 2024 Tina Barry All rights reserved
from I Tell Henrietta
AIM Higher, Inc.
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission