A New Poem

Well, I've had a pretty dry spell causing poems of late so I took out my copy of Richard Hugo's "Triggering Town" with hope for inspiration.  I must have drifted off into a mindscape of being an orphan or something and when that noun popped into my head it "triggered" an outburst; a poem, maybe....

The Orphan's Cook

Smoke-smudged amber glass
Tempers my view outside and below
A scatter of children milling
'Round the gravel yard watching their dusty feet.

Chattering English sparrows
The silent ones cannot hear.
A cloaked woman paddles the perimeter fence
Watching a peculiar child.

The spectator stops and turns her stale gaze inward.
She clutches the chain-link
Leaning her body against the mesh
While sunlight washes the courtyard.

A sedan stops nearby the intent watcher.
A door opens.
The driver calls out,
"Beth?"

With a final glance at Ami
Dragging her blue uniform jacket,
The woman steps away
Into the car.

The children follow the bell ringer.
Only a crumpled coat remains outside.
One runs back to pick it up.
The hardwood floors creak to lively steps
Marching toward their porridge.

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