Outside a robin hops
from a crusted snow pile
to the matted spring grass.

I stand at the window and watch,
while the echo of quiet play
mixed with soft humming
drifts out of the nearby bedroom
and into the hallway,

coming from a son
who is supposed
to be getting dressed —
but who has found absorption
in a long-forgotten toy.

I wish I could move
to see him,
but I don’t dare
stir the light
or sound the floorboards.

My body is warmed by the sun

before a shouted question
from downstairs intrudes
and the moment drains away.