on your back porch
you do not see mountains 
or ocean waves
the town of Falerna 
or the promenade to the sea;

there's no distance 
or depth
in this view.
 
I watch you
sitting -
looking out at 
the garden you built
on the land that's your own.

Is it the sustenance,
the stability 
you see?
Is it the 
family 
the existence -
life
are you seeing your reflection?
  
Answers were never 
in your words.

I find them
in that small space
within
the tomato stalks
and sunflowers

He looks out
at the plot of land

the one that
offered the grandest of gifts.

I do not tell him in words;
that's not our shared language.

he gave us life 
and in return
i lived.