temporary hole

in the cloud of gnats

where I ran through

first sun of the year —

in every neighborhood

the smell of manure

robins at dusk

their sharp calls

bouncing overhead

Gettysburg hills —

she thinks of something else lost

in the room that burned

(for our dear friends in Hopewell)

cold snap —

the cracks in my skin

return

loud clock —

I move it around the house

seeking escape

poised to run as if

moonlight is escapable —

the front yard bunny

still in that space

waiting for their plucky songs

(up before the birds)

pear blossoms falling

for just a moment

my eye thinks “snow!”

feeling careless now —

I think again about

the last time we spoke

childhood bedroom —

pink until I woke up

and asked for green

in the tiny creek

that runs along the road

a dam of petals

Callery pears

on a mission to be seen —

just like us

peepers

and forsythia

each with their own song

paper airplanes —

our thirteen year-old

explains flight again

magnolia buds —

for a moment I see hands

closed in prayer

a pear tree

next to a cherry tree

their blossoms touching

private garden —

the turned down corners

of her seed catalog


(My friend Rachel Wente-Chaney kindly responded in kind! Thanks, Rachel!)

Shelley in her bed
Seed catalog ink on cheek
Dreams of planting soon

spring sun —

the red faces of those

caught unprepared

keeping score —

the spring ant games

begin again

tiny frogs

with their perfect morning song —

spring, spring, spring!

tracing absence —

only the scent of pine

where the old tree stood

(HT to S.M.)

I send my past self

a note about the garden —

let berries ripen

slow passion —

I gently cover the dough

for the night

parched ground cracks

wider than the earth between —

she takes in the news

answering machine —

for one wrenching moment,

the voice of a ghost

when we realized

parallel also means

never touching

Easter basket grass —

somewhere a sharp-eyed robin

thinks about a nest

spring thaw —

suddenly the streets are full

of children on bikes

all Hallow’s Eve —

divvying up the candy

over prank stories