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.