her book

I borrowed her book
a student who's name I've lost
I'll call her Hannah
though I know it's not her name

an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland
rode to Arkansas that first spring
Laura lived there

stacked among other things
on the floor behind the passenger's seat

there was a leak
water dripped from the air conditioner
soaked the carpet at the feet on the passenger's side

later I noticed it soaked the stack of things
on the floor behind the passenger's seat
including the book I borrowed
from my student I'm calling Hannah
but who's not

I offered to buy her another
a copy not soaked by water from an air conditioner
"it's a first edition" she said
though I did not replace her copy
with one that was

I never read the book
leant it to students over a few years time
til it went on its way

from 'a storied procession of palms'

the Prado
remnants of a wealthier Lima
where Spanish colonial mansions now house oficinas

an avenida
where two strips of street travel in different directions
palms stand in the green space between street and sidewalk
cars and emissions fill the space beneath the green fronds

I ride along through continuously warm days
surprised that the magnificent now diminished to a roadway
only hints of a splendor that once existed