It’s a habit:
looking out my kitchen window.

Checking to see if my neighbor’s car is parked.
Relief when I see it,
Knowing he’s safe.

Irene never returned
from the trip to PA
for her chemo treatments.

Hit a tree.
Took days to discover.
Broke in to rescue her dog.

Ruth Mannino is testing her hand at writing poetry for April’s poetry month. She learned more about Irene after she died, than when she was living next door. Isaac, her dog, was adopted by a good man and his family.