When People Ask How Many Children

by The Quiet Voice

Original EveryPoem Studio house-voice poem.

The question is simple for the person asking. I have learned several answers: the quick one, the true one, the one that protects the stranger, the one that protects me. Today I say your name. The room pauses, then makes space for the sentence. I do not owe everyone this story. You are still my daughter whether I speak or carry the answer home.
64 words · 14 lines · Free Verse
daughter lossparenthoodidentityboundariesenumerationcontrastrepetitionfree-verse

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