Looking for the Mother

Looking for the Mother           

Another toddler, the second in as many days, gone

wandering without clothes out into bone-shock cold,               

-30 wind chill. This one still alive, spotted and brought

inside by a neighbour. Police are looking for the mother.

Later in Longo’s, in the busy produce section, this small

old man with pinkish juice flecked with seeds dribbling

down his chin, evidence of a snatched piece of fruit he

ducks his head in vain to conceal. Ragged clothes, thin

and old—someone should tell him to wait at least till he’s

in a quiet aisle and to stock his empty cart with some items.