- an old couple stands under a tree,
- on a traffic island in the middle of the suburbs.
- his gait is reduced to a shuffle,
- cars must wheel around him as they cross the street,
- so she has led him to safety.
- his jaw is slack and his face has narrow folds
- which look like burrows of darkened bark.
- the tree under which they stand
- is gloriously alive, crackling with buds,
- crazy with hope for fruit.
- his sunken eyes are lifted up, taking in the tree,
- and he has let go of her guiding hand.
- his face is besotted with wonder.
- he is beside himself with awe,
- and she, watching him, looks incredulous.
- something still lives inside him
- despite whatever there is of him she has come to know.