WATERCOLOR

The rain splashed through the garden

like a diagnosis.

The clouds darkened the sky

and everything green or yellow or pink turned

even more green and yellow and pink.

The lilacs were absolutely on edge. Purple.

And my mother’s voice on the phone, a watercolor

mixed with too much water,

asking me what I had done that day.

What had I done that day besides not coming out to visit

her in the hospital? I didn’t bring her flowers.

I wrote a letter to K. I bought a book I really wanted.

I downloaded a movie and made pasta for lunch.

I spent the day in love, thinking only of myself.

from Late Spring Catalog