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
Hollowed out oyster shells
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.