When he couldn't sleep and his sight got going

    he noted¹ the colors on the back of each painting；

    this one forest blue， that gunpowder²，

    one blue to make the yellow tell，

    and one bluer than that.

    Certain nights only the rain will have

    its say， troubling the downspout.

    When morning came

    he chose a white shirt

    （they're all white） and followed the buttons down.

    At least he says there is Billie Holiday

    and the plants bring every green with them.

    When I make his breakfast， the bed，

    sweep the house out with a broom，

    he stands by the window longer than one should.

    I know he believes in progress

    even if it's the kind you can't see.

    When his sons grew tall and remote

    and moved to cities he'd barely³ heard of，

    he talked to them on Sundays.

    Though perhaps it's too late

    a silk rose in his lapel.

    When I came back some nights

    I saw him caught beneath a streetlamp

    talking with the girl he loved turning his palm over

    like a phrase he couldn't remember.

    I saw the night come down around them one hand turning

    and how she turned in the dark

    and smiled， blue scarf on her head，

    blue dog at her feet， blue attic⁴ between the stars.