Asylum

Asylum by Gretchen Tessmer

we take care of the orphans at our gates

foundling children and changelings mostly
late of rusted iron rails
and so much gritty dust

rat’s nest hair and tattooed hands
threadbare jackets and torn teddy bears

tear-stained cheeks
everywhere

I knelt by one of the little ones

(her mud-splashed shoelaces were a tangled mess
that took a proper spell to unravel)

and I asked where she’d come from
just making conversation

she said she’d been on her own
“forever and ever”
        and ever and ever
snatched from her cradle, sold across the sea

then she added, those tears pooling, looking
as downcast as she could be
apologetic even, that she couldn’t answer me

“I don’t remember where my home is,” she mumbled so low

“home is wherever people care about you…” I replied

with a steady timbre, smiling
and with my forefinger, I tipped
her torn teddy’s chin right up

(taking needle and thread from my pocket
I’d soon sew him back up)

I promised her fiercely, while licking the string,

“home is here”

DreamForge Anvil © 2025 DreamForge Press
Asylum © 2025 Gretchen Tessmer

 

Poetry Notes for "Asylum"

This little poem was sparked to life by a random Taylor Swift lyric about finding home in someone's eyes, sent to me as a prompt by a dear friend (thanks, Anna!). I always find it absolutely inspiring that sometimes the biggest twist in a story/poem (and life) is just a simple act of unexpected kindness.

Gretchen Tessmer

Gretchen Tessmer is a writer/attorney based in the U.S./Canadian borderlands. She writes both short fiction and poetry (way too much poetry), with work appearing in Nature, Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Fantasy & Science Fiction, among others. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart, Rhysling and Dwarf Stars awards.

  • Space and TIme

Support these friends of Dreamforge