for barbara and bruce

we went there mostly in spring

to the house (which used to be a barn)
with a garden outside and
a free-standing tub upstairs
past the three bedrooms (the last one was mine)

the weather shifted in extremes and
we adapted
either sipping cups of tea
wrapped in thick sweaters curled up
on the rug or sunning ourselves
on the lawn sipping bloody marys
in our underwear (while bruce was in town)

in the afternoon we
would nap in rooms of antique
jars and lamps and needlepointed chairs
where the windows were sealed
with plastic against flies and
the wind stirred through places
loosely taped