scent of lilac
   finding her
own way home

red leaves strewn
across wet asphalt —
my reckless youth

crepe myrtyle
heavy with blooms
a friend's death

christmas
all the colored lights
in the icu

just about spring
feeling for the latch
under the hood

ice age still dripping into it rainforest
 

reading obituaries
my wife and I
side by side

early frost
the litter of kittens
down by two

she nibbles the tip
of his ear
chocolate rabbit

leonid streaks across the sky promises
 

spring breeze
meeting her parents
at the grave

new year calendar
compliments of
the funeral home

walking the creek
barefoot for the first time
with my nieces

bone moon
picking through
hand-me-downs

Auschwitz tourists —
all day a loose button
on the ground

the shadow
moving with all the others
a tree planted in her memory

New Year's Eve
another line
on the Covid test

crab apples
the way she hides
her bitter side