FIRSTBORN 1950

The sidewalks glittered
Like August snow that hot dawn
He drove her through town
Blind months of waiting broken
On the bedroom floor back home.

He gave her in her gown to the nurse
And left, superfluous
And empty in his truck
Holding his breath in sympathy

He coasted down the hill with his final view
Of her, arms and thick legs and that
Secretive belly--
Coasted punching radio buttons till at last
The static burst with his vision--
The Star-Spangled Banner breaking in the day,
And the sun in his rearview, sudden
And growing with each turn of his wheel.

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