Why Barbara Isn't Here
       

Because the casseroles stopped coming
Because the rain is ordinary
        its gray sheen
        its predictable gray tympani
Because they never came afterwards as they promised
        for the rented hospital bed he at first refused
        not that he slept
        not that she slept either
        Because all night the night
Because she found his last pack under the driver's seat
and the moon now is salty
        the sun colder       coldest

        She isn't here
Because the hillside shimmers on the other side
        its cornflowers pale along the edge of the road
        she could stop if she wanted
Because summer comes too late to Vermont
Because the road becomes the highway
Because now that it's over she can leave anytime

Barbara isn't here
Because her mother would have told her to stay
        her mother who would have stayed herself

She isn't here
Because the garden is overgrown
        the lettuce gone to seed
asparagus       rhubarb       onions
Because there are nests in the gutters
        and the night all night the night

Barbara isn't here
Because she could no longer keep up
Because now she doesn't have to

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Copyright © 2016 Andrea Hollander All rights reserved
from Hubbub
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission