I: As an estranged mother descended the stairs at Lewisham station

she thought of what it was like to

be free in a restrained world and

if her child knew

how to be free from her.
Each step;

slow,

cautious.
Her soles sunk

into

cinder-block sneakers;

worn-out

like her migrant eyes.
The crackle of her knees

on each step

directed her mind’s eye

to the Rice Bubbles she once watched her child eat…
                                                                                                           In the summer

                                                                                    when the three of them

                                                                        left Birmingham Avenue
                                                           In the summer before

                                               three snapped into two
                                    In the summer

             before everything burst.




II: At the seabed

of the station stairs,

an adult looked at her

with the eyes of a child

she hardly knew,
their stare was nothing like

their mother’s blubbering face—
                                                     There was a change in plans:

                                                Rather than meeting on the platform

the adult decided to intercept the woman                  the child decided to intercept their mother

                                          and join the apparition of underground faces.
They would surprise the

weeping woman that

stood before them

by taking them to a Lewisham cafe—
This volte-face was shorter, more

bearable and better than a citybound trip with a stranger.




                                                                        III: And as the mother ascended

                                                                        the stairs to leave Lewisham station,

                                                            their child followed close behind

                        and as the mother neared the surface,

she thanked the gods for a second chance
                                                                       but with two steps to go,

                                                                       as she turned to face them,

                                                                       they were no longer there.