The Old Couple
Their lawn chairs in the sun
Outside a standard door--
They are considered nonproductive.
They passed their buying power
For the next to last measured lot.
The old man putters about the yard.
Turning earth for flowers that she wants
Beside the fence of hedge and vine;
And to a reel gone out of style,
He dances with his dog.
She feeds all birds and stops to watch
A squirrel glide like a leaf
Among the thoughts of friends
Whose deaths predict their own;
The papers tell them so.
She brings him tea and stories,
Retelling all that made them glad,
And love for children who had fled in fear
Of palsied hands to faster places
Where an hour can wear no dust.
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