Crisp fall mornings, leaves
blanketing the yard, a fire glowing;
your grown daughter
two again, curling by your side, or posing
in the backyard, skipping rope on the sidewalk
bordering the building, sitting on a tree stump
looking at the cars as they pass; she was so willing
to do what you wanted, until
she wasn’t. The long cool stretch of the pool
in summer, blue going on forever; summer nights,
waking up in the dark, cool sheets wrapping
hot bodies; the skyline of a dead city rising
as I cross the bridge, imagining
a life within.