SCREENS

I sat down to watch a DVD tonight
but there was too much outside my window

the fat girl next door
who stands on the sidewalk
flirting on the cellphone
with her boyfriend
and smoking cigarettes
while her husband is inside
changing the diapers
and thinking of much worse

words to call her than fat

the young Hispanic dudes
caps flat-brimmed and cocked
to the side with
tattoos on their neck
baggy shorts
arms crossed over their chest
glaring out at their world
a world of working two jobs
and making car payments and

staying out of other people's trouble

the distant music from
a backyard party across the alley
squeezing past the garage
and up the back steps to
whisper and giggle and

uncork a midnight I wasn't invited to

the tree in the front yard
turning another season
filtering the streetlights
through a riot of scarlet and orange
branching up
arms extended

in October surrender