One September Afternoon
By Leo Dangel
Home from town
the two of them sit
looking over what they have bought
spread out on the kitchen table
like gifts to themselves.
She holds a card of buttons
against the new dress material
and asks if they match.
The hay is dry enough to rake,
but he watches her
empty the grocery bag.
He reads the label
on a grape jelly glass
and tries on
the new straw hat again.
Copyright Credit: "One September Afternoon" ©1987 by Leo Dangel, whose most recent book of poetry is The Crow on the Golden Arches, Spoon River Poetry Press, 2004. Poem reprinted from Paddlefish, No. 3, 2009, by permission of Leo Dangel and the publisher.