a line

from the Jenny McPhee novel I'm reading slappd me so hard tears fell from my eyes & wet my lips. somehow I finishd the chapter then pulld on my winter coat. I walkd past flokati rotting under snow to "Dad's Last Garden" completely under white. then to the graves of my cats.

I crossd the foot bridge over the arroyo & walkd to the park in Plaza Entrada. I sat on a cold metal bench & rememberd back a half century. Susan Kirby in her coffin. what wd she have done with these 50 some years?

the neighborhood motel had a sign: "Bye bye. Come back soon." I enterd the office to ask when they were closing. the woman at the desk look puzzld & sd they weren't. I suggestd new signage.

a stop at my local grocery. small tomatoes in a mesh bag. $2.99. I surveyd the shelves of tea   each box sadder than its neighbor   but found no gloom curative. then I followd my own footprints back. I have a last chapter to read.