Still babes
I owned their stories
I could make him
their father
a bum
or
a prince
anything
I chose human

A tug of war
that never ends
children on one side
parents on the other
children growing up
pulling away
having their own lives

later

aging parents
now pulling
their end
trying to hold onto
theirs

I go through
My mother’s things
now that she is gone
books and books
and more books
and the online record
she used to prevent
duplicate buying
a database of her library
pictures she added of the cover
book in her lap
I can see her legs framing it
holding it in place
and I miss her