- Souvenirs
We met in the emergency ward
Getting our stomachs pumped
Suffered the indignities two curtains apart
Overhead the cop who brought you in say
"Next time, son, you might not be so lucky"
And I laughed out loud
You counted all the times you crashed your car
- The Garden
Must explain. I know no different. Must explain. I’ve watched it grow. Fieldstone rocks free for the taking. Ivy
from my mother’s home. Where will they go? Stand of cedar offers shelter. Globe hydrangea, spruce and
beech. Struggling yew tree at a corner. Two bush roses, pink and peach, underneath thorn and leaf. Life-size
statue of a dog. The one at my heels, my dear companion. So many years of love and toil. The creek and the
swale, all I imagined. Some odds and ends, a weeping bed. One day at a time.
- The Wreck
The night Raleigh doubled down, the sun fell, the snow rose in slow circles, halos, crows diving over.
Sundown, edge of town. Lights on the overpass blink. She hurries past, wind growing colder. There she was,
woodsmoke and evergreen. There she was, in the car with me. Slow up the switchback. Smokes and a sixpack.
Over the pass at last. Sky on fire. I bank the turn a little late, try my best to compensate. The Ford is a raft, the
winding road is a river. There she was, woodsmoke and evergreen. There she was, in the car with me.