Adopted child

After Romans 8:12-23

Abandoned, and left

alone, the crowd moving

on, the child looks and

stares, concern mounting

to desperation, mounting

to fear, until a hand

reaches out, touches

the child’s forehead,

the touch imparting

a spirit of place, of time,

a spirit transferring

ownership of belonging.

The child reaches 

to the hand 

of its new father.

Photograph by Joel Overbeck via Unsplash. Used with permission.