My heart breaks as
another child is caught
between struggling parents,

the bridge that was to
hold them together forever, yet

“London Bridge is Falling Down.”

With each episodic scene,
arms close on either side of
her, closing off one side or t’other.

“My fair lady,” says the rhyme.
Hardly, says me.

Tossed back and forth between
clutching arms, the victimized child
struggles to escape the game,

only to discover the rules have changed…
tug-of-war is now the game, a game
where rarely anyone escapes unharmed.