A Yesterlife

There was gold, green, orange, bright vermillion, and cool air in the trees. Under the bridge light trickles bounced off the water, and an old log enjoyed a swim, while playing tag with rocks on the banks. The sky seized small clouds, and was happy. In the backyard mother sashayed with her children. Under our feet the grass giggled with amusement. Two fishing-poles posed on the back porch wait for the days labor to conclude, and my fishing buddy to fill our driveway with a Buick. My sister lay in the smiling grass, grinning at the happy sky, around mother skipped Peaceful and Quite, as she pinned clothes to a wire. Damp shirts flourished in the wind, as it passed. Mother's dress wasn't new but chaste and well kept. It tasted cake flour, vanilla, and plain brown sugar as it waited on evening. Night was a book of dreams as mother read from my bed’s edge, while I sank into a wrinkled pile beneath a window that framed a moon yes, even then there was a moon-- and stars.