A few weeks ago in a long line at the grocery store I felt a small weight against my legs. A toddler was leaning against me with the unassuming peace that comes only in the presence of their parent. Except that I wasn’t this child’s mother –she was in the next line over–and the look of shocked fear in the toddler’s eyes when they realized this was awful to witness.
Then I remembered an outdoor wedding I went to this past summer, where the toddler son of the bride and groom staggered up to me with a big grin and held out his arms to be picked up. The last time I’d seen this child he was an infant. There was no way he recognized me. But there he was, smiling and relaxed in my arms, and somehow this tiny human’s unquestioning trust hurt my heart as much as the other child’s fear. We have to watch over them, is the thought that washed through me, we have to watch over each other, we have to, we have to.
Second Estrangement, by Aracelis Girmay
Please raise your hand,
whomever else of you
has been a child,
lost, in a market
or a mall, without
knowing it at first, following
a stranger, accidentally
thinking he is yours,
your family or parent, even
grabbing for his hands,
even calling the word
you said then for “Father,”
only to see the face
look strangely down, utterly
foreign, utterly not the one
who loves you, you
who are a bird suddenly
stunned by the glass partitions
of rooms.
How far
the world you knew, & tall,
& filled, finally, with strangers.
For more information on poet Aracelis Girmay, please check out her website.
Image by Shaun Tan from his book The Singing Bones.
Alison McGhee 
Oh Alison, “Second Estrangement” breaks my heart in the most wonder-filled way.
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Me too, dear friend. Me too.
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Dear Allison, I love your blog. However, PLEASE credit the artists whose images you use! In this case, the magnificent illustrator Shaun Tan, from his book ” The Singing Bones” (or it there is a credit, I didn’t find it). If you have not seen that book, it is superb!
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Anna, this is such an important point – thank you. I’m so weirded out because for years I’ve thought this image is from a show I saw at Blum & Poe in LA of Korean artists. But when I do an image search, you are absolutely right – it’s from Shaun’s book. I’m so sorry about this! And thank you.
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Wow – it looks just like it’s from The Singing Bones, but then, I didn’t check my book first!
thanks!
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No, you’re RIGHT! I edited my comment above. So weirded out.
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Love this poem & your reason for choosing.
The few times a little child has accidental leaned up against my pant leg in grocery line I know it is a good day! And the look on their face when they look up….such innocence.
Thank you
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Yes, it’s a good luck sign! You are a trusted human. XO
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