two vancouver ave octets

(1/26/17)

#1

               

the two benches simply boards laid across stumps

in cedar wood chips & the pale shaggy grass

leaning south—in one raised bed sprouting beet greens,

a single kohlrabi, parsley, tarragon

long since gone past; nothing but emerald curl

of scallions in the next under a staked sign

rain has nearly erased; fence made of pallets:

spray painted letters, illegible designs

#2

wood rocking horse at the porch corner behind

white spindle balusters; on the lawn, yucca

blades slump above brick walkways; golden rain tree

holds its hollow pods out of reach, ironwood’s

coriaceous leaves hang lower as buds rise,

leafless paperbark maple stretches branches

into power lines—single crow flying first

southeast across blue veers due south into gray

Jack Hayes

© 2017