Neighbors

I am barking at leaves in the wind. Which would not be a problem If I were a dog, But I am your neighbor, The man who helped replace Boards on your dilapidated, Unpainted fence. Tomorrow you will trim the grass Surging along the base of that fence And when I offer to help paint You will say yes, oh yes, How kind. But tonight there is the round of your face, Your body kneeling at the window of a darkened room, My barking in the air like spring scent: A touch of life after life in bloom, The sound of hurrying. And leaves, so many, many leaves.