Like Hot Water
(for my mother, on her birthday)

it comes like hot water through pipes. across a house. maybe under our feet. we don't know exactly. like riding a bike. one foot over, then the next. it comes. the limp strings of a puppet they tangle. our fingers, they come like protectors. untangle. the leaves fall when you aren't looking. when you do, they don't. the wind comes, he carries them. in a vase dried flowers. when you hang them, their heads defy gravity. brushed against the wall, their petals come. down. on the floor they crunch under foot. you move. the feet stay inches above the pipes bringing water for your hands. it comes. ellipse. the moon is getting older too. -Zobella