ON HUDSON STREET NEAR THE WHITE HORSE by Tim Suermondt

A tiny plaque on a bench,
purchased by the mother
to honor the daughter.

Never mind that the cobblestones
could stand a cleaning,
that the ugly gate surrounding

the ugly parking lot
is too close for comfort
and ideal contemplation—

the April sun covers over
a lot of sins and both the living
and the dead are gearing

for another Spring, the sight
of the coming cherry blossoms
in everyone’s mind.

The bench is brown and sturdy,
sturdy as the daughter was,
as the mother is.

Tim Suermondt is the author of five full-length collections of poems, the latest JOSEPHINE BAKER SWIMMING POOL  from MadHat Press, 2019. He has published in Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The Georgia Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Stand Magazine, december magazine, Galway Review and Plume, among many others. He lives in Cambridge (MA) with his wife, the poet Pui Ying Wong.