On Loan

There are those who are upset
with the man who brought
the baby moose into his house

not because he saved it, but
because he made it learn of hugs
because he made it feel the warmth
of burning logs and the softness
of foam cushions, because he
thought it would be glad to go
out into its wilderness

made more beastly by his show
of give and take, of come and go

the man stayed in his parent hood
knowing what he'd done
from the no-win place inside
where words are never
enough to set your child free