<\/p>\n
Clinging<\/strong><\/p>\n For three days I\u2019ve carried you Unhurt, I help you Your tiny body keeps falling though\u2014 In eulogy, I preen knots <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Richard King Perkins II<\/strong> is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He has a a daughter, Sage. His work has appeared in hundreds of publications including Prime Mincer, Sheepshead Review, Sierra Nevada Review, Fox Cry, Two Thirds North<\/em> and The Red Cedar Review.<\/em> He has work forthcoming in Bluestem, Poetry Salzburg Review<\/em> and The William and Mary Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Clinging For three days I\u2019ve carried you on my back even though you keep falling off. Unhurt, I help you atop my shoulders once more praying that you\u2019ll cling to me so tightly my hair will tear out in clumps. Your tiny body keeps falling though\u2014 my special child. At last, I hide you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5162"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5165,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162\/revisions\/5165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\non my back even though
\nyou keep falling off.<\/p>\n
\natop my shoulders once more
\npraying that you\u2019ll cling
\nto me so tightly my hair will
\ntear out in clumps.<\/p>\n
\nmy special child.
\nAt last, I hide you
\nbeneath the roots of an ancient tree
\nthat the scavengers might not desecrate you.<\/p>\n
\nfrom your monkey fur and leave only
\nwhen the leopard scent grows too near.<\/p>\n