Excerpt from

The Origin of Angels

This is the origin of angels, all
Of providential history turning back
To our first parents, Adam's fingers twisted
In a knot of grief above the silver corpse
As in The Death of Abel by Bonnat,
Eve wondering how it could be 
With everything we know about heaven,
That children understand the means
And ends of suffering before their parents do.
It's when I'm on the verge of sleep
That I can see their faces as they scamper
Through a backlit meadow, unaware of me.

"The Origin of Angels" first appeared in Paris Review