PARTING

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By Debra Wendt

It was knowing yet not voicing,

a touch to the shoulder without pressure,

possessions they could carry quickly gathered

silent testament child away –.

They fled without the knowledge of her parents

and could not say goodbye to relatives or friends.

He abandoned work without notice –

neighbors at inquiries shook their heads.

Sheltering beneath the shade of a sycamore tree,

she lifted her weary eyes and watched (as mothers may)

a mirage of heat and windless air, her son a man

displayed above thinned to bone –

He said it was the journey.

First published in Agape Review, November 6, 2022.