This

 

This

Quail Court
is a manicured plot
where dwells a schoolteacher
named Jane who this once
in the entire span of our lifetimes
I meet for a few minutes in her bungalow of
flamboyant art, orchids in pots.

Jane outlines my electrical task,
a new circuit plus a couple of floodlights,
and then with schoolteacher gaze
both merry and serious she asks
“Are you honest? Wonderful and all that?”

“Um… Yes.”

“Then here’s where I hide the house key.
Just leave a bill on the table. I’ll pay it because
I’m also honest and wonderful and all that.”

And I do. Next day. Alone.
And she does. By mail. Promptly.
And I love. All that.

……

First published in Poetry Breakfast