Ten inches of snow

That is what they said

But after three it stopped.

And the wind blew it into piles

Covering up the dog bowl

That the neighbor’s cats drink water from.

The next morning the old man stumbled down the porch steps

Twisting his knee on the dog bowl hidden in the snow.

Over his objection, his wife dropped him at the hospital door on her way to tennis,

In ER he was fussed over by a nurse half his age.

Over the months

Bagels and coffee

became their ritual every Friday

While his wife played tennis

And he served aces

Under the shade of a tree with a lady half his age.

One Friday on a walk

She wrapped her smile in the twinkle of his eyes

And their hugs intertwined with lips.

He stayed in denial for several months

til one day coming down the wooden steps

He saw the dog bowl under the porch and told his wife

“I never saw it coming,

One bagel at a time,

But I often wondered if it would have happened if it snowed ten inches,

But I often wondered if it would have happened if it snowed ten inches.

Roe

2/1/21