A stiff autumn breeze
 
drives leaves from neighboring trees
 
into my backyard.

 
 
 

Autumn afternoon—
 
my neighbor’s cigarette smoke
 
drifts across my fence.

 
 
 

“The school bus is here!”
 
my neighbor calls to her son—
 
summer slips away.

 
 
 

A crack in the fence—
 
I can see the grass has died
 
in my neighbor’s yard.

 
 
 

While I sip my tea,
 
my neighbor’s nosy roses
 
keep peering at me.

 
 
 

My neighbor’s daughters
 
keep practicing soccer moves—
 
shimmering heat waves.

 
 
 

My neighbor’s roses
 
lost their pinkness overnight—
 
now they’re snowy white!

 

 
 
 

Even in autumn
 
my neighbor’s yellow roses
 
bloom as bright as suns.

 
 
 

September twilight—
 
the postman skips my mailbox
 
but fills my neighbor’s.

 
 
 

Blue morning glories
 
have escaped my neighbor’s yard
 
and invaded mine!