Jennifer Frost Writes

by Jennifer Frost

If you stray between the corn rows, you’ll get

Lost. A baby near here died that way; her

Name was Gretel. Diaper dragging, she stepped

Past the sleeping dogs and through the broken

Fence, her mother watching soaps and sipping

Tea. She noticed when the sun went down, when

Gretel was asleep a mile from home. She

Lay between the rows and no one knew which

Way she’d gone. They found her two days later,

Pale and dead. Who lets a baby wander off like

That? The worst of us would never be so

Careless. Children that we love know corn leaves

Close above you, ten feet tall on all sides.

Be wise. Stay in sight and don’t leave the yard.

Word to the Wise appeared first in The Chained Muse.