last walk

and then one day
all the locust trees on the next block
had turned yellow
my last walk with Henry
along these familiar streets
punctuated by the shush brush
of the first fallen leaves

it was the day you moved most of your things
from the apartment we shared

that day

warm and bright
three weeks after I’d left
to live with others

i got sweaty loading the truck with you
after our shirts were already
wet with our tears
time alone will show the difference
between the shame of giving up
and the greatest gift
we can give one another


letting go

like all the golden leaves now
fallen to the walks