sticky sap years
i wonder if they have painted the shutters yet
that pale yellow my brother used to paint / the whole house that one summer
but his labor is chipping now / sun baked and fading
i could have sworn it was just last year / yet somehow more than ten have slipped away
those sticky sap years
they collected in the gutter one at a time / and no one noticed until it was full
i look back now and they’re all amber
i wonder if the new family took down the swingset / the one with the green plastic seats and the rubber chain
the ones that floated over red mulch and weeds
back when they were dandelions