Mistakes

Broken watchbands below pine trees
wait patiently for whoever left them
there and worry that they’ve been forgotten.
The edge of the train platform has no barrier
other than a painted red line and a warning, and
it works better than every fence in the neighborhood.
Street hockey is played in the alley and the goalies
wear increasingly elaborate masks like the face paint
worn by warriors in the past. Modern nomads sleep
comfortably in their cars and drive from town to town
searching for somewhere to live without a master, but
there is almost nowhere like that anymore.
A little girl sketches the colorful birds she sees
out the window in a small notebook she keeps under
her pillow, but they never turn out the way she wants them
to. Her mom tried to encourage her one day and taped
a bunch of the drawings all over the house. She was so afraid
she couldn’t even look at them. They all just felt like past
mistakes on display.