A half-ton stops at the light, three Malamutes
in the back eddying around. The neighbor boys
halfheart chores in the yard. At the corner house
on listing card tables next to a La-Z-Boy
that probably won't unlounge: Klimt in a red plastic frame,
Cussler and Clancy, smoked plastic floppy disc holders,
a Halloween goblet, a straw hat, two life-sized
fair-prize Pink Panthers. The light changes,
the dogs slosh away. One of the boys
throws an armful of sticks into the air but
they have forgotten how to be branches.
-- Catie Bull --