There’s so much that is not,
nevermore, maybe never was,
but there is this: the pale blue

house next door to yours
transformed in a single day to
mimic a flourishing morning glory,

purple-y purple in shade, a color
that pops the eye and prompts
a grin. Because although you

might not paint your house
that color, your intensely hued
neighbor has, and overnight

the view out your kitchen
window is so much livelier.
Stepping onto the front porch

makes you imagine what it
will look like next spring when,
long before the leaves,

the first wisteria blossoms
emerge, the lavender globes
hanging from the trellis over

the driveway set adjacent to
the now-purple house next door
that’s kept company with yours

for a good 100 years. And just
wait till the actual morning glories
return to ornament the fence

alongside the driveway, their
purple faces bursting from twining
vines, echoing the edifice behind

them, when you will again admire
the way that their throats open
each day to the sun, glowing

all the way to their centers.
There is this—that unexpected
color, that reflected light,

the floral abundance,
so much life growing
simply because it must.

•••

Painting by Leon and Marissa and their crew
at Handy Hauling, Sacramento