Your Salve

When needed,
a hard heart 
is indispensable — 

for the eyes of their children
can soften your resolve, as can
their voices at dusk

before streetlights
come on and chase them
toward imagined safety —

don’t be fooled. You know
what they are, what
they will become.  You

might need to wait them out
at first, but you will
get used to it. Till then

remember that anyway, they burn
brighter in the night, and you will learn
how to harden your heart

by the light of them twisting
in the night: your involuntary demons,
your salve.