Once so neatly tended

Once so neatly tended, once

so precisely flowered and shrubbed,

now overlooked, forgotten, unkempt,

as if it had just awakened disheveled

from an all-night bender, none

too good for wear. Her window, once

trimmed in green and white shutters,

now dirty, shutters flaking small chips

to the weeds below. Once, she leaned

forward and laughed; the sound

swallowed into a past that exists

only in his mind; no one left

to remember.

Photograph by Peter Hager via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.