We flew to Detroit for a tricky operation on my husband’s heart

Hadn’t been back since 1965

When the city roiled with prosperity

Skies smoked dollar bills and

Roving enterprise men drove Cadillacs down wide esplanades

Hived out in skyscrapers

Papered the land with factories and mills

By the time we arrived all we saw were

flattened fields

Cadaverous warehouses and empty storefronts

Eyeless schools the size of city blocks

Tall office buildings, hundreds of them, all

Hollowed out oyster shells

A city blank with cats and cracked concrete

I used to live right there my husband said

Pointing down a shambled street.

Then we went to the hospital.

Surgery was a great success.