Latch Key Kid

A boy sits on house steps (cement arid) removing the crust from his egg salad sandwich sparrows snatch the broken morsels he throws at them laced bonds like a companionship weave a shield from solitude He savours the egg salad his mother has left for him comfort food like the joyous presto an orchestra plays His mother, swept aside by work from noon till six, allows his independence in a latch key that dangles from his neck deserving of protection a latch key that opens the fall out of misplaced pairing for a child knowing everything doesn't always work out A boy's resolve that a crusty dollup of sadness isn't a full meal that life spooled out by a plundered sense of normal doesn't prevent a new dimension of self that sometimes in the erasure of a full family there's a moon walk to find one's footing His calm blue gaze picking up clues establishing connections a focus from his core as a family of sparrows pecks at the crumbs Poem composed: June 25, 2022 Received an NA July 24th/22