On the Water Taxi across the Potomac After Rehab

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Long after
her fears had passed     my daughter asks
me why the river never flows back.
I tell her that it’s like     how bones
grow in the womb     unbroken &
witness     to every good thing     how
life happens there     & once cared for her
in the way I couldn’t     for eight months & another
five years     when I wanted to. She nods
off & the court chaperone smiles
showing me the time.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017