Tonight the west wind is blowing
through Aaron’s small window
over his half-size bed, his toddler’s body.
Where does wind come from? he asks.
The sky, the weather, the whole rest
of America, I say. It travels across
the continent, across Massachusetts Bay
and comes to you in your room
under the eaves.
We look into dusk
and see the roof of the ell,
the shakes, his plastic pool
on the brickwork below. The wind
stirs the locust trees, carries
the white noise of the sea.
All day I fight
over the family business.
And there are so many houseguests,
like the waves.
But now up here there’s
just us and the wind,
and long after Aaron falls asleep
I sit in the dark and breathe.
Sharon Dunn is the author of An Island in Time: Exploring Bound Brook Island, Its Land & People, Its Past & Present.
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