Good Neighbours
for Mieke from Chie


1.

Mieke's in my garden
patting down earth
around

late winter violets
and a sprig of aster

It'll grow, she says.

It's small now, but it'll grow.

And I stand beside her
arms dangling at my sides

not knowing how to say
thank you.

2.

There's a sign outside her door
that says

"Sold".

In the spring
she'll be moving house

and I wonder what it will be like
to live without

the sound of her son
playing clarinet

in the upstairs bedroom.

3.

I think of all the seasons of the year
of all the days that have turned
into weeks and months

I think of Mieke's arm around my shoulders
and her voice
telling me
it's all right to cry

and I think
of asters

and violets
and

how all things bloom again
in spring.