Companionship

For everyone who is brought into the fold
with gentle murmurs and the warmth of touch,
there is always someone left out in the cold,
but no one ever thinks about it, much.

There are those days, delirious with light,
sometimes, we think we really could be blessed;
or, at least, put up a lively fight
against the flood of hardship, and its crest

that seems to want us smashed into the rocks.
Meanwhile, the boy smiles at his mother, who takes
care of his britches, and pulls up his socks.
Sometimes, life is what a mother makes.

We are human, but is that a good excuse?
The harshest prison is to be turned loose.