Sometimes on those winter afternoons
she would sit on the swings in the playground,
feeling the brisk air against her rosy cheeks.

^ I love how you set the scene so clearly here and yet it is something each person can personalize to their own memories and feelings. nice job introducing the little girl and giving a hint to the tone the piece is about to take on.

Her eyes would follow the other children
who seemed to have a cheerful joy that she
could never find.

^ This is where the sadness starts to creep in - at least for me, I love the way you took a single sentence and stretched it out just enough to be such an important stanza for the piece both to move it along and to introduce just a touch more of the story.

Her little mind would wonder off
as she began to wonder what their life was like,
compared to the one she lead.

^ I like the descriptions you used here the wording of "little mind" shows that she is not only young but possibly quite naive as well? I like how it shows with the second and third lines how so many people think in public places, they pick a person who catches their eye and just start coming up with different scenarios of how their life might be based on the way they come across in the current scene. Nice touch.

Tears escaped from her worried eyes,
turning to icicles on the ground.

^ This is beautifully heartbreaking, definitely my favorite stanza in this piece not only for its simplicity but for its creativity as well.

And as the care-home bell
called the children inside,
she let herself feel a glimpse of hope
as she prayed for tonight to be the night
where she finally heard the words:

"A foster family has been found."

^ I am combining the final line and the above stanza in one section because I view them collectively as the conclusion. I love how you made the title tie in only to the ending so as not to give too much away so easily. i love the sense of hope and the possiblity of better things that this shows as well as the sense of realness to this story.

Phenomenally penned

Enjoying the simplistic wording, on a whole it unites the poem into an unorthodox flow, I say unorthodox because there's no attempt to dramatize the wording. Unseen in most poems on this site. The feeling of displacement I get reading this piece is Undeniable. Left with with the portrayal of innocence... Great work.

Such sadness in the tone of the first few scenes. The imagery captivates the reader and you can picture the little girl doing all the actions you explained. This girl is sitting on the swing in the playground of this place, watching the other children carry on with their happy lives, while she is stuck in the thoughts of her own world. She begins to wonder what their life is like compared to hers and she realizes that she has lived a rough life. It is a cold day out and it shows on her cheeks and tears escaped from her eyes, in a moment of weakness. But when the bell rings to come inside, she let's herself be open to the possibility of becoming a child in a forever home. This is a great write. 5/5