letting go
you breathe easy
you breathe hard
it’s more than just a fine line
what just ran through my mind
a mouse or a sparrow
or a fine white line
you better check on the old ones
and the young ones
they can’t keep after themselves
they keep chasing things
things only they can see
in the backyard
there is a house in the ash tree
neighbor kids climb and get in
—are never seen again
police at front door
issues citation using invisible ink
we offer them sweet tea
and a scotcheroo
but they say no thanks
they gotta go
ask us to keep an eye open
meanwhile we breathe easy
and we breathe hard
one day there is six of us
the next day only five
november two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 
Love this one John
Thank you Tara ~ I’m happy you do
New book soon??
Hadn’t thought about it until now. I’m retiring at the end of the year, so yeah, maybe early next year….
I was thinking about it the other day as I was reading Derecho again.
Wow!!
“meanwhile we breathe easy
and we breathe hard
one day there is six of us
the next day only five”