On the Day My Son Says I Work Too Much

A golden shovel with thanks to Dylan Thomas
         There are whales bubble-feeding in the 

         channel, but I won’t know until the sea

         splashes across the front page, humpback yawning like

a bored schoolboy, a 

         churn of eagles hovering above, each talon a blade.

                                                             Where was I at 

        when life was happening? Where were my children, their

        world presenting itself to my turned-away face?

Author of the article

Frances Klein (she/her) is an Alaskan poet and teacher. Klein is the author of the poetry collection Another Life (Riot in Your Throat 2025). She is a founding editor of Flight: A Literary Sampler, and editor at The Weight Journal. Klein’s flash and poetry have appeared in Best Microfictions, The London Magazine, Rattle, The Harvard Advocate and others.