hunger

those cold evenings
coming inside
the house and crying
"Mom, I'm hungry."

A whirl on the heels
A stare colder than
the outside weather
Hands on her hips
"Show me your tongue."

The little mouth opens
and the tongue
comes out

She stares at it
and then grabs it between
her thumb and index
and studies it, gives it
a rub and
declares: "No. You're not that
hungry. Get out of
here and leave me alone."

And her words carry the finality
of God's words from
the Bible
because she is the god of this
small world
and her word is law