When you recognized
the way they had passed by
your house, you were
amazed that you had never
guessed before;
you had let them go by
almost unnoticed.

Just had
a glimpse of the car
going by; just had a flash
of them in the car,
him laughing in a gray hood
and her obscured behind
the wheel.

You stopped
for one second, probably
less than that; then you
shook your head once again
as you had in the past
when they left —

where were they going?
What did they mean to
each other? Where had they put
the pitbull? Did they
have a cat or was that just
in your head? How long
would they last?

You didn’t know. It was
none of your concern.
You turned back to what was
your concern, and pretty soon
had forgotten about them
entirely, or so you thought;
they popped up from time to time
unbidden amid your anxiety
about everything else
you had going on. Became
part of it. A thread
in fabric — first golden
then blue, finally black.

When if ever
would they come back?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
onward,
T