We

We  

i.  
 
before she leaves  
collects her money, and  
a bracelet  
dropped between  
the sheets. He  
 
ii.  
 
counts to ten  
before he dresses,  
pays the room rent  
messages them that  
he’ll be home by 3. She  
 
iii.  
 
wonders why he’s  
coming home which  
never happens on a  
Thursday. Did he quit  
pursuing women with  
false money or they  
 
iv.  
 
tire of giving him attention.  
Both kids need more  
dad’s affection  
haven’t seen him in four  
 
days will pass  
and soon they’ll grow;  
continue in this fashion.  
Alive, We  
 
v.  
 
often move in  
staled directions  
love, and other stuff  
 go sideways  
 
ignored with time  
invested, but  
nothing more we  
can control without  
 
vi.  
 
watching patterns  
in the spaces that I  
share with others  
knowing we are  
always and forever  
enmeshed in  
 
vii.  
 
Past  
 
Collected in the  
eve of every  
day, rejecting,  
begging not to be  
rejected. Life  
 
viii.  
 
what we  
keep forgetting is  
that we are all connected.  
 
 
ix.  
 
Here’s to all our  
futures, and our  
ancestors who rely  
on what we’re  
doing with the  
 
x.  
 
Now  
 
she walks into  
her bedroom  
drops her cash  
into her dresser  
takes the photo  
framed in heirloom  
reminds herself of  
when they used to  
 
Xi.  
 
wait.  
 
Dad is coming  
here at 3  
wondering maybe  
what they’ll eat  
 
she sets the table  
for his visit  
Dad won’t eat  
but watch tv  
and talk of days when  
 
Xii.  
 
Memories.  
 
These moments flee  
us even when we  
seek or seize  
them.  
Relying on  
 
xiii.  
 
Impressions  
 
gone with  
time and space  
yet here we are  
where things are always  
changing  
and in that they’re  
just the same.