(for Mary and Dani)

I didn’t have any of my own,
yet two of them came today to help—

one a muralist who has nicely
flowered one side of my garage
above actual blooming flowers
and now festooned the back side
with floral wings, and the other
who helped revamp my life as I
learned to teach before a screen
when a sneaky virus made its
way into all our lives, this one who
still helps me declutter,
reorganize—

once again bringing 20-something
voices into this 100-year-old house,
once again bringing their talents
to lighten and brighten my life,

the latest in a series of young people
who sat in classrooms where I taught,
on student publications I advised,
when they learned a thing or two
from this old dog,

now they teach me—a grateful pupil—
who recalls the wisdom of a long gone,
much older friend who smiled fondly
at me when I was these girls’ age, saying,
“Honey, you need to have younger
friends—especially women. They’ll
be there for you when you need them.”

And, by golly, almost four decades
later, she’s right. Look at them—
painting, laughing, reshaping,
making my life better in ways
they can’t yet begin to know
and I so appreciate.