"For Sale By Owner"

Your rocking chair
Rocks no more. It
Sits and
Stares at the sunset without you. Your toes would
Push against the floor while you
Watched me
Play in the yard. Muddy oranges and crispy reds would
Flow from my hands as I
Smeared my fingers through the wind. You could not
Hear the dandelions
Call my name – faint voices lost in the fragrances I
Stole from the sunset. Beneath the growing oaks I would
Swim in the sea of crushed moonlight until you would
Call me in for dinner.

Inside I
Press my nose to the slumping yellow body of wallpaper. It
Coats my nose with the gray greasy smell of your cooking. You had
Ordered it from the catalog, and together we
Hung it that same afternoon that it
Arrived at the post office. Your thick legs
Bobbled on the thin step of the step ladder. Glue
Dripped from your elbows and onto my face as I
Watched your fat hands
Fight with the bubbles and wrinkles. You
Cursed the glue and Mr. Potter for
Selling it to you.

I
Sit beneath the oak tree and
Close my eyes. I
Strain to
Remember the secrets it
Divulged when I would
Dance beneath its green dress. The dying tree
Remembers. The large leaves
Whisper of that rainy day when you
Wiped tears and raindrops from my cheeks. Your hands, rough and dirty,
Took the still puppy from my arms. I
Sat under the tree with my head down until you
Returned from the backyard. You
Stole me from its protection and
Guided me into the bright yellow kitchen that
Smelled of mashed potatoes and chocolate cake. You wouldn't
Give me my present – you had so carefully
Wrapped in blue paper and yellow ribbon. You just
Covered the dinner in aluminum foil and
Hid the cake in the cabinet and
Grabbed our coats from the hall closet. We
Ran to your dull green truck and
Peered through the hole in the foggy windshield and
Bounced over the dirt road to Mr. Ruskin's farm. Lightning
Cracked through the sky on our way back home. The tiny black puppy
Shivered in my hands. When we
Returned home you
Pulled out the blue and yellow present and
Offered it to me. I
Ripped through the paper and
Untaped the ribbon. A tiny blue dog collar.