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Four Houses Framed in a Window

Pale lemon, white, mustard, tan stucco—
they anchor spaces for a Harley, a minivan,
a compact, a black hatchback

four framed windows in the lemon house
a bat and a playground ball get knocked
around between families, used rudely

the houses step downhill between hedges
behind trees the minivan hatch opens
loads and unloads churchgoers

broken chairs and boxes tip at the curb,
monsters then hay bales line porches,
then Christmas lights and dancing Santas

a garden appears out of lawn,
a flowerbed seeds over
city workers chainsaw limbs near wires

Lemonade, chilled white wine
mustard for the bratwursts on the grill
the pop staccato of rock drums

A birthday at the stucco house
and a porch corner gets torched,
a pink “girl” sign gets draped next door

Final carseat bases removed, first steps,
the wild bike ride into the van,
and a slide downhill toward the high school

House colors change: green, champagne,
flax and another sequence of neighbors
in Czech national garb, suspending piñatas

a new sedan, a minivan that will not rock,
a Ninja cycle, the ping of bicycle bells
another family of mourning doves, of attic bats