here is a gift

here is a gift
of fresh seed

(dear birdie)

and a shiny ribbon that dances in the breeze

To the white cat on the blue couch

To the white cat on the blue couch, she announced,
"dinner service,"
as she set her beloved some food.

She paused and watched

She paused
and watched
as her lawn ornament revved up
and slowly,
paddled away.

Sometimes, unexpected things happen, unexpected bonds form.

She observed on a Sunday

She observed on a Sunday that like cars, the windows of an orange digger get fogged up too on cool, September mornings.

After putting on her super-hero costume

After putting on her super-hero costume with her super-hero powers and her super-hero cape, she decided to have a cup of tea.

She also thought she might lie down and be horizontal for a while.

She put on her super-hero costume

She put on her super-hero costume and proceeded through the day.

When she died

When she died, Old Ugly was in full bloom.
The tree she named brimmed with small green leaves and shaded her room.

Evening

In the evening, I gathered water, glass, flowers, flame.

They brought us tea and ice water

They brought us tea and ice water, which I drank,
bananas, which I ate,
and stories of my grandmother.

From the long-term care facility on a wing of the third floor

From the long-term care facility on a wing of the third floor,
we looked out the window of a sun room.
There goes a man walking two dogs, there goes a neon green car,
there goes a woman wearing white rain boots.

"When I was young, I always wanted to have a pair of white rain boots," she said.

This morning on the radio

This morning on the radio,
Molly Johnson commenting on a song by Amos Lee:

Flower rhymes with power.

She had named the tree

"Won't it be nice when the tree is full of green leaves?"
"No! Then I won't be able to see the street."

She had named the tree outside her window Old Ugly.
I said, "I think Old Ugly is pretty".
She grimaced.

Each day the daffodils gets taller

Each day the daffodils get taller
Long green shoots get longer
It is time
It is time

The pile of clean laundry

The pile of clean laundry is growing
On the table in the corner under the window
This soft burgeoning
Waiting to be picked up, put on

Across the room

Across the room, one woman said to another, "I am so glad my first name wasn't Tracy [though her middle name was]...I haven't known many Tracy's and the ones I've met I didn't like very  much...".

This was overhead by two other women, one of whom was named Tracy. Quietly, the inadvertent eavesdroppers giggled and smiled.