When my mother was alive
We walked arm in arm
My hand tucked into the crook of her elbow
We walked around the lake in Florida
Up Broadway to buy bagels and lox
Along the Grand Concourse to Lohmann’s
Down subway steps to the D train
Our footsteps matched.
We walked along Vermont cowpaths
Out onto the pier to watch my father fish
Walked arm and arm in the nursing home
When she could hardly put one foot in front of the other.