landscape with falling house

John Sweet

nothing but rain all summer
and the names of dead soldiers
the shapes they no longer fill
and the sounds their children make

the sounds of sirens on the
other side of town but
moving closer

this nineteen year-old girl drunk
and falling from
a third-floor window

hitting the ground
with the force of ten million
dark red flowers

and i forget her child's name
and never find out what
happens to her

and i wait for you to smile
but you don't

i watch you leave
without speaking

we have come to
know each other too well

From Subtle Tea