Over the balcony
Just a stone’s throw away
A reminder catches the sun
Of an absence felt but not spoken
Guarded through smiles and how are you’s
Two lives run parallel
Once beginning on the same path
Then abruptly diverging
One with less sleep
The other with battered dreams
One with cooing
The other with silence
Over the balcony
Two homes stand side-by-side
Joined by a boundary wall
But not much is shared at all
A reminder hangs on the one porch
So small it is almost unseen
Like a country flag marking territory
Dainty and defiant
It flaps in the wind
Just a newborn’s romper on the washing line