We stayed inside
and drew red trains
we ate burritos
like it was the end
the air was sweeter
for a good long while
everything had stopped
so many people we know
lost so much so fast
so many others
did not come and sit
near our door and say
how is your garden
your little sunflowers
they say are simple
to grow in a line
it is said their heads
turn to watch the sun
but they don’t at all
no birds ever came
to eat the green shoots
my little sunflowers
I watched them poke up
through the soft black dirt
with that undeserved pride
I feel when he writes his name
I did not teach him guitar
like I was my dad
I just put him in the car
and played Guided by Voices
and drove back and forth
through his favorite tunnel
it got dark and light
then so dark again
2025