End of summer

A summer dress that flares when she twirls
sun on her arms, leaves in the grass
and a two-hour stomp in the fountain at
Jameson Square, then a warm-up with steamed
milk at Lovejoy Bakers and a streetcar ride
back to Baba's house, where the laundry basket
served as a car, a drum, a house where three dolls
had tea and sang the teapot song and Bella
turned into a cat and licked her arms
right up to the shoulder.

She has other things to do tomorrow, and then she'll be away next week and I the week after. So this is the last I'll see of her for about three weeks.