Be Still

Clotheslines encircle
the perimeter
of the housing jungle,
sidewalks connect
the cookie-cutter houses,
high voltage olive
drab cases
dot the landscape,
where
siblings scrutinize
the world of creeping ants, spiders, worms,
in the autumn grass.
Mom watches,
wishing
for a life growing
from the loam
of winter.

Previously published in the Missouri State Poetry Society’s Grist 2007 Anthology.