If

Her feet are swollen

her fingers arthritic

she worries about leaving her grandchildren

at home alone all day

The lady next door promises to look in on them

but she knows they will slip down the block

to wait outside the bar

where their father sweeps floors

pours shots of bourbon for the regulars

and takes the trash to the dump every day

If their mother were here

If the train had moved more slowly

If the yellow van full of teenagers had not

         pulled so close to her daughter’s pickup