The head of the household
is a girl of thirteen
and her children are many.
Left-overs, moulting gulls,
wet unweaned sacks
she carries them under her arms
and on her back
though some must walk beside her
bearing their own bones and mash
when not on the floor
in sickness and distress
rolled up in rows
facing the open stall.
Moon and bone-cold stars
navigational spoor
for ambulance, hearse,
the delivery vans
that will fetch and dispatch
the homeless, motherless
unclean and dead
and a girl of thirteen,
children in her arms,
house balanced on her head.