One of those mid-week days,
Around noon, and the leaf-blower
Gardener only has three more passes
Until lunch, the dry leaves flying
Into the street, and then pushed
Away by a southeast wind.
His partner has some more passes
With the lawnmower, little grass to
Cut, just keeping it brush-cut low.
The leaf-blower gardener’s wife
Appears, three-year old in hand,
And waits for the engines to still
So she can give the men tacos and salsa
And Cokes.
She had been ironing inside the big
House, beyond the leaves on the sidewalk and
Street, and beyond the grass.
She’d made the tacos earlier, at her apartment,
Before she rode with her husband and partner
To the big house, yard, sidewalk.
Her sister had an appointment at the
Clinic, so no one to watch the three-year old
Whose face is like hundreds of thousands of three-year olds: alert, smiling, looking ….
