I watch you bundle up and trudge out
to feed and water your livestock.
You miss milk cows and a dog named Shep.
On just under an acre, our substitute in the suburbs,
you fill the heated birdbath, replenish nine feeders
with sunflower and niger seed. You notice me
at the window. I wave. You grin
and strew store-bought corn to stocky squirrels.
(2005)