fan

he wears the colours of the Broncos the Phillies the Jets

has been to Springsteen Zevon Tedeschi Trucks

many folk fest favourites 

he reads Tom Clancy John le Carre Wodehouse National Review

he is a true fan of these things 

and he is a true neighbour 

a fan of the family

always there when you need him

wearing the colours of us

 

limeball

dreamed up by eight year old grandson in our back yard 

using the power line that diagonals 

our expansive yard

dropkicking a ball  

a little larger than a tangerine and 

us trying to catch it 

notwithstanding the sun in our eyes 

everyone plays 

an agglomerate of young and old

to the delight of boy 

we play until the light of the moon takes over and 

we can’t see the wire anymore and

we relive our antics until the 

sky turns sable with pinprick of rural stars 

 

this is the last time we play

because we are moving to a milquetoast house 

in the city with no wire and a small fenced backyard

still the boy tries to come up with a plan 

 

so many memories

like watching the kids  zip around the house

each with a pinecone in hand 

wireball will be missed 

boy’s memory romanticized to quadruple its size 

our new home a shell of our former selves