Stealthy in bare feet
three bandits come.
Prize swivels high between
striped green leaves.
Bandits on a plastic chair
beating with a mop
upon the coveted coconut.
Sweat-damp and panting.
Leap, swing, thud, thud
thud. Stuck determinedly.
The three thieves giggle,
soft as church. Strain.
Until at last they see,
just a few feet off,
a long sturdy ladder
more than tall enough.
The sky is oiled orange
gleaming along the metal
and matte of cement steps
The hose is on
running clear into black
of garden earth.
A long pendulum dip
Followed by
Splattered drops
Mother portions them out
one-eighth of a cup
in six mounds, cupped
A sudden car trip in the dark.
Your blue hands
curled in the coffin.
A poem about a little girl sitting in a whicker chair, watching a parade go by from her spot in the bay window.