Weaning

When farmers separate
calves from mothers
both bellow all night,
call for each other,
a sad but necessary sound.
Calves stop first,
mothers continue a few more days.

When I left my daughter at college
I cried so hard on the way back
I had to pull over.
I’m sure she forgot me
before her first class.

Now she moves her oldest
into a dorm, drives home,
enters the dark room,
aches with loss.

Jan Chronister is a retired English teacher now spending time on her own writing and too many flower gardens. She also helps fellow poets with editing and publishing their work. Jan lives in the woods near Maple, Wisconsin with her husband Bob.