The Space Silence Leaves

There is a basketball hoop in my driveway

That has been there since we moved in

More than a decade ago.

When I come home from grad school,

I see it before I even see the house.

Whenever I’m home my mom tells me

The neighborhood kids use it now

And hearing it get used

Is the best part of her day.

The sound of ball hitting rim

Ball through net

Kids searching for joy in her yard.

What she means is

She misses hearing Hayden and I

Learn our fathers trade

In the summers and off seasons

What she means is

She wishes it was still us using it

That those kids were her kids

Still kids

Searching for the sunset

Telling us it’s time to come in

To come home to her