Listening on the Stairs

Wrote this back in January at my prompt writing group and forgot to post it.

The prompt was a passage from James Agee's A Death in the Family. It described the two children listening on the stairs, while the grownups talk necessary talk about the father's death.

Listening on the Stairs

when you're little,
you don't really care what it's about. You're pretty sure
you wouldn't understand. They'd say
it's grownup business.

So you grasp at the sounds that flutter past
the way you clutched at snowflakes last December and they all laughed at you
when you cried because your hands were empty
although you were sure you'd caught one.

Now you know better. You know the words you catch
will melt. You will not cry,
empty-handed. You will wait for them to explain
in words you understand, what it all means.
You feel very grown-up now.

Available! High-Voltage Lines, Knocking from Inside