Road to Dendron

A shopping cart,
On its side, curled up,
Sunken in the river;
Lily pads gilded
Its edges, softening
Lines and loops that
Watched a child grow
In the grocery store,
While her father did the best he could;

Swans preen,
Curled up, among
Tulips, crocuses,
While a crone
Smokes cigarettes
Outside the bodega
With glass bottles– 
Green, blue, bountiful
As hyacinth;
The sun kisses her face,
With freckles, laugh lines,
Rouge; she did the best she could.